FoxChild
by The Tooth Fairy
Summary: HPYYHNaruto xover. Gaara of the Desert was standing next to the bed, face about just as blank as Yomi’s.Speaking of Yomi, Whisper was hoping to never meet this particular youkai: Ever. Youko and Suichi’s memories of the multieared demon made him edgy.
1. Prologue: Beginning

**Disclaimer: I dun own anything that may appear in this storyexcept the majority of the plotline and the odd character.**

**This has been running in circles around my head for ages, screaming at the top of it's lungs, so i couldn't help but write and post this one. If i get enough feed-back, i'll put up the next few chapters.**

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It was a surprisingly cool night in July; the air was clear but for a momentary faint metallic scent, pale blue-grey clouds floated across the star sown sky, illuminated from behind by the full moon that hung high overhead. The country was asleep but for the occasional later comer on the way home. Nothing mov-

THE HELL WAS THAT?

…Oh…

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The silver, slightly insubstantial five-tailed fox was bolting through the yards of the suburban houses in some town in some county somewhere in the Human World.

Four things stood out when one glimpsed this unnatural creature.

He was hurt.

He was exhausted.

He was scared.

And he was _desperate_.

Golden eyes darted around, seeking a place to hide from the shadows he knew were coming after him after he felt a second dimensional portal open not far from were he came through, followed by the metallic scent of blood that was a constant in the Demon World.

And the fox was NOT GOING BACK.

The fox was deeply regretful that he had had to abandon the body to save the self, but he hadn't just left the human side to die at Their hands. That the body was dead was not in doubt as he had felt the last link with the body be severed as it died. No, the human side had been partially absorbed into the fox and so was along for the ride.

The fox knew he was exhausted and that it would only be a matter of time before the shadows would catch him. The fox was about to give up when he felt wards. Protective wards.

The fox twisted mid-bound and headed towards the thing -- person? -- they were protecting. He paused, panting, as he staggered to a halt in front of a plain house that was almost a carbon copy of the ones around it. The fox looked over his shoulder as he heard the shadows shriek as they tried to get through the wards.

So. The wards were set up to keep anything with malevolent intent out. The fox turned back to consider the house before him. The number read 4 in English and the sign at the end of the street read Privet Drive. The fox idly thanked Inari-sama that the human side had taken Advance English classes as he padded closer, his curiosity and nosiness getting the better of him.

It was pathetically simple to get into the house as the basement window was already broken and the basement door was not locked. The glowing translucent silver head peered around the door and into a normal, though impeccably tidy, middle-upper class home.

That was until he got a whiff of the undeniably overpowering scent of raw power, the brand of which was an obscene mix of three different types of ki. He felt his lip curl in disgust, but it did nothing to squash the fox's curiosity.

The first and strongest was a mutant strain of reiki known as 'Wizard Magic' to humans and 'Sin Spawn' to demons because of the wizards were renown for being curious about demons (read: using them for ungodly painful and humiliating experiments). The second type was simply the run-of-the-mill battle reiki used by psychics and clairvoyants, meaning the subject also had slight farseeing abilities that would bloom if nurtured. However, it was the third that caused the ghostly fox to pad closer to the closed cupboard under the stairs with his ears pricked forward in interest.

You see, the third ki wasn't just youki, which in itself in a human was rare as hanyou tended to be sterile, no; it was _kitsune_ youki, which made the person compatible as a host as long as they hadn't stopped growing. This particular kitsune youki, while faint, was comparable only with the distinct feel of a black water-affinity kistune, very rare and very emotionally sensitive and empathetic. They did, however, have a _very_ nasty temper and an even nastier sense of revenge. Kick-ass sense of humour though.

The person had what was jokingly referred to as 'Clow Syndrome' after the great mortal magician, Clow Reed, who had possessed wizarding ki, creative reiki and a dog-demon's youki. Anyone with this 'syndrome' was destined for either great things or an early grave.

The fox padded towards the door and, after taking a few moments to slide the bolt with his teeth and paws (which was actually pretty hard since he was only partially substantial), opened the door.

The fox quite literally felt his human side wake and coo at the adorable little boy who lay curled on an old mattress and wrapped in a ratty old blanket, no pillow. The boy couldn't have been more that one-and-a-half to two years old. He had baby fine blue-black hair that lay in a messy cloud around his angelic little face. However, the face in question was frowning and scared, the sounds that were coming from the kit's throat were terrified and upset. Even the fox's usually ruthless heart was unsettled as the paternal instincts rose in response to the kitsune energy, the sounds and the helpless 'don't-hurt-me' scent babies and young children gave off.

There were several loud cracks that took the fox several moments to realise belonged to wizards' teleporting. The fox moved into the cupboard and pulled the door closed, using an amount of his precious little energy to slide the bolt closed again, then settled to curl around the infant and decide how best to proceed. It was highly unlikely that any of his allies would find him anytime soon.

"Meehh…"

The infant mumbled and nuzzled into the warm fur-like energy that made up the fox's 'body', then mumbled again, but this time in contentment. The fox nuzzled and sniffed, occasionally licking, over the toddler's face in an unconscious grooming gesture. Then his tongue ran over something that tasted like corruption. The vulpine muzzle jerked back in surprise before it zoomed in and focused on the spot after confirming that the power wasn't the child's. There on the infant's forehead was an inch-long zigzag scar coming down from the hairline. And as he studied the scar with his power, the only thought running through his foxy little mind was something along the lines of "What the fucking hell happened to this poor kid?" Only it wasn't that polite because he was thinking in a form of degenerate Makaianese, which happened to be the rudest gutter slang in all of the three worlds.

What prompted this response was that the child's aura was a solid sparkling crystal blue, but the scar was a dried-blood reddish-brown that spiked deep into the boy's mind chakra. The only way the fox could see to limit the influence of this…this gross invasion of persona was to possess the boy like he had his previous human host and work to prevent the invasion that was gradually getting deeper from inside the mind manually.

Now, the fox was usually ruthless, callous, selfish, cruel, cold and so on, but hurting an adult demon who had probably done worse to others that he did to them was entirely different to hurting, invading the mind of and trying to totally fuck up any child's life, human or demon. Just like a half-human associate of his, the fox had a chink in his armour when it came to kids, only the fox's wasn't quite as big. He came to a decision. With a lot of encouragement from his human side, of course.

An ear flicked as the front door was opened using a spell and four people entered. Two went upstairs and the other two prowled the lower floor. One of them, an old but powerful wizard, paused in front of the cupboard door before moving on. A minute or so later, the four wizards left the house. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't feel the shadows anymore either.

Once he was sure the wizards were gone, he turned his attention back to the boy, who was using a tail as a teddy, and started the hours long process of sliding into the infant and merging their souls.

Just as the sun lit the sky with its warm light, the fox and the attached human soul moved to the back of the child's mind and pushed the red spike back to the anchoring point and setting up a shield to keep it that way.

The fox went to sleep as the child woke, exhausted from the night's activities, humming a tune that his own mother had sung to him when he was a kit. The human soul, however, remained near the surface to watch over the child.

The child, who had had clear hazel eyes the night before, awoke with bright green eyes rimmed with gold around the pupil. He smiled as a tune echoed through his mind, filling his mind with peace and comfort. It didn't even dispel when his Aunt Petunia hauled him out of the cupboard by his arm, dragged him into the kitchen and threw him down into a kitchen chair before ignoring him.

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	2. Chapter 1: Existance

Disclaimer: I dun own anything but the general plot line.

Sorry about the font size ;0)

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The Fox-Child was weeding his Aunt Petunia's garden in the blazing heat, but he didn't mind. The six-year-old was perfectly happy to spend the day singing to his plants and tending to their needs. He was currently tending to the chrysanthemums, who leaned into his touch and sang along.

"Hey, kid." The Boy looked up at the young man leaning against his aunt and uncle's front fence. He had red-brown eyes and slicked back black hair. The Boy knew that the young man was the kind of person that his relatives abhorred. The Boy blinked at him and waited for the other to continue.

"Where did you learn to do that?"

The Boy blinked and frowned, then shrugged, turning back to his garden. The petunias were complaining again. The man didn't go away for some time, just stood there and watched, but eventually he continued down the street.

'_He'll be back.'_

'_Why?'_ The Boy asked of the Plant Man.

'_It is his job to look out for anyone who may become a problem later in life and protect those who cannot use their inner powers like we can.'_

'_Oh. Okay.'_

The Boy had known the Plant Man and the Fox since as long as he could remember. The Plant Man was almost always there to answer any questions the Boy had and provided comfort when the Boy's relatives got worse than usual. The Fox, however, seldom made himself known to the Boy, but the Plant Man said that it was because he was too busy modifying the Boy's subconscious and thought patterns. When the Fox did make an appearance, it was usually to answer a question or teach the Boy something the Plant Man couldn't. Then there were the times when he would just run the tune he told the Boy was called '_The Threefold Lament'_ through his mind to calm the Boy down.

'_How did he find us?'_

'_Probably the same way we did.' _The Boy paused to listen to the Fox, ignoring for now the plaintive calls of the lilacs. '_There are powerful wards for a block radius that are keyed to keep out any who hold malevolent intent and are capable of using above normal human energies. All he would have had to do was follow the blood ties. It isn't that hard.'_

The Boy frowned again. '_Will they be able to find me wherever I am?"_

There was silence on the other end as the Fox and The Plant Man considered this with chilling insight. '_Yes. Suichi,' _Boy blinked before it dawned on him that Fox was talking to The Plant Man. '_Teach him how to block and redirect the wards._

Worry flowed from the Plant Man, who was now found to also have another name. Suichi. '_Do you think we should start teaching him how to defend himself? He's due to start school soon, so he'll be leaving the ward boundaries.'_

The Fox's voice was a murmur, meaning he was sinking back into the subconscious level. '_Do it. Better too early than of too late.'_

And that was the fateful day that the Boy started to learn to protect himself, setting into motion a total deviation from what the lady-like Destiny and the uptight Fate had decided what his life would be like, which was totally screwed over by the mischievous Chance and the stereotypical-blonde Luck (Explaining why she's sometimes referred to as 'Dumb Luck'), thus resulting in a screaming fest and being chewed out by Fortune for acting unprofessionally.

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Quote: Eagles may fly, but weasels do not get sucked into jet engines.


	3. Chapter 2: Whispers

**Dislaimer:I dun own anything but the general plot and the odd character.**

**In answer to the questions from my reviewers: a) yes, that was yusuke, he was checking out the area because they found residual energy reminiscent of Kurama's. b) hiei will either turn up soon, or way way _way_ later. and c) it is unlikely that either suichi or youko will get any permanent body.**

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The ten-year-old Fox-Child, known to most as Harry Potter but known to demons everywhere as Whisper, lay on his bed in the smaller upstairs room of Number 4 Privet Drive. Due to his acting and manipulation skills learnt from Suichi and the Fox, whom he had learnt was named Youko Kurama, as well as his almost inhuman beauty and intelligence, Whisper had secured a place in the Dursley family through his aunt, via a well-timed teary "Why don't you like me? Did I do something wrong?" after a few well faked bad reactions to anything out of the 'norm'.

Therefore, while he wasn't treated as well as his cousin Dudley, Whisper had achieved a degree of affection from his Aunt Petunia and even his Uncle Vernon. He was top of his class and was offered to be put up a grade (which he declined), but to ensure no animosity, he had gone out of his way to help Dudley with his schoolwork, homework and assignments, leaving Dudley at second in the class.

After some subtle manipulations and hints, both boys had been granted permission to choose an extracurricular sport. Predictably, Dudley had chosen boxing while Whisper learnt the one skill his other selves couldn't teach him. Kendo.

However, Whisper's nightlife was very different from the life he led during the day. About once or twice a week, Whisper would climb out the window after releasing a sleeping spore he had acquired during one of his first forays into the Makai and Youko's lair to get some seeds for defence, offence and neutral purposes as well as any books and scrolls pertaining to water-affinity black kitsune and their abilities. During these night wanderings, Whisper would seek out and steal items of interest or gather any information he thought might be profitable. By eight-years-old, Whisper was questionably the most successful dealer in artefacts and information in England, gathering an estimated million a year.

Of course, he couldn't have done anything as a human child, so he was forced to seek out another means of doing business. Whisper's chance came when he learnt by fluke that he could shift to boy-fox form for a few hours before he ran out of energy. His plans were furthered but a potion that aged the subject ten years by human standards. However, since Whisper never did anything openly illegal, kept out of the slave trade and kept his business exclusively in the Human World, the British Reikai Tentai couldn't actually bring him in on anything, so they just kept an eye on his activities when they could and sometimes even bought information off him.

But that's not the point. The point is that the ten-year-old Fox-Child, known to most as Harry Potter but known to demons everywhere as Whisper, lay on his bed in the smaller upstairs room of Number 4 Privet Drive. He was in still the house at 3:37AM for two reasons. The first was that today was his eleventh birthday. Which led to the second reason. His Aunt and Uncle had been acting weird lately, so weird, in fact, that even the usually oblivious Dudley had noticed.

Since he had developed his ki and both ordered and untangled the threads of power, which usually took a decade to do, Whisper had found that he didn't really need all that much sleep unless he was hurt or over-worked, so he got up and turned on some soft music; Linkin Park: Hybrid Theory.

Whisper shook out his just below shoulder-length hair, grabbed a brush and a book, and settled back onto his bed. It had taken him ages to convince his Aunt Petunia that maybe his hair wouldn't be so messy if long hair held it down. He had barely gotten away with it, and he made sure his other selves knew how unhappy he was about causing possible trouble with his relatives. Suichi and Youko had been totally unsympathetic of his plight as both of them had longer hair than he did while in physical form in order to hide and store their seeds in an inconspicuous place. That and it was traditional for kitsune to have hair past their shoulders.

The longer the hair, the stronger they were. Hair length and colour could also be used to distinguish caste, status and race in come cases. As host to a silver, as well as being a black water-affinity, Whisper was _supposed _to have hair past his waist, but on a human child it would be considered out of the norm, eradicating any chance of acceptance from his relatives.

So here Harry Potter, the Saviour of the Wizarding World, the Boy-Who-Lived and Defeater of He-Who-Must-Not-Be named sat, reading the twelfth Anita Blake Vampire Hunter book by L. K. Hamilton, which should have been R rated, and eating toffee-coated grasshoppers taken from his store under a loose board in the closet.

So much for the normal and innocent façade he worked to uphold

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Harry! Happy Birthday to you!" Once the Dursleys and the kids from school who had been invited to Harry's Birthday Party finished singing, Whisper blew out the candles and made a wish in a highly exaggerated fashion before grinning at the people around him as he started opening the presents from the guests, wondering all the while what it was that had his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon so worked up. Though he had a sneaking suspicion that it had to do with the letters Uncle Vernon had burnt or shoved down the food disposal the last few mornings

Whisper was curious as to what was in the letter, it had to do with being a fox, but he let it go because of self-preservation. It was severely frowned upon in the Dursley family to question the actions of either of the adults, so both cousins usually kept their mouth shut. So Whisper, for the most part, forgot about it and revelled in the party the Dursleys had thrown just for him as a thank you for getting not only himself, but also Dudley into a highly acclaimed boarding school that had a 98 rate of graduating into Oxford University, called St Peter's School for Extraordinary Young Gentlemen.

Truth be told, Whisper didn't really want to go to St Peter's School for Extraordinary Young Gentlemen. Whisper wanted to go to Japan and see if the Japanese schools were as challenging as Suichi said they were. He'd also be lying if he said he didn't have a more illegal interest in Japan. The demon population in Europe wasn't really all that big; less than a twelfth of the overall population. In Japan it was closer to a fifth being a demon, a human with demon blood or a human with an above average reiki level, meaning a whole new turf and better business options. And it would be easier to get toffee grasshoppers. Never forget the toffee grasshoppers.

Everything was going splendidly at the party. Until there were a series of loud 'CRACK!'s out the front of the house. There were a fair few shouts as the adults got the children into the house while Vernon and Petunia Dursley went around the building to see what the sounds were. Whisper, however, bolted up to his room with Dudley in tow where he silently slid the window open enough to hear what was being said.

"-He will not be going!" Whisper frowned when he heard his uncle's voice. If he had been yelling at Whisper, Whisper would most defiantly have backed down and done as told. The elderly male voice who answered, however, sounded like a parent scolding a particularly stupid naughty child.

"Now, now, Mr Dursley. It is what his parents wanted for him. It was decided before he was even born. Harry _will _attend Hogwarts come September and he_ will_ be returning here each summer." Green-gold eyes narrowed, causing Youko and Suichi to waken and shift to the surface to find out what had their usually even tempered host so ticked. Dudley glanced at his cousin, then prudently edged away. He knew from experience that that look meant the apocalypse was imminent. Last time Harry had beaten down and totally humiliated seven kids older, stronger and bigger than him.

"Now you see here, you freak. Harry is going to a highly acclaimed boarding school he himself chose. That boy is a certified genius who worked his arse off to get the marks required to get into the school. And I will not let you ruin my nephew's chance at having a normal, magic-free life!"

Whisper was touched at the passion in his usually gruff uncle, which only served to send his already formidable wraith into a spiralling inferno of rage.

"That is no longer an option, I'm afraid. The application to St Peter's School for Extraordinary Young Gentlemen was cancelled this morning. Now if you would call the boy, we shall take him to get his school belongings and place him with a wizarding family to get settled in."

'_Ouch.' _Was the only comment Youko got out before the boy with blue-black hair strode over to his study desk, his cousin watching with wide-eyed disbelief and not a little fear.

Whisper stalked down the stairs and down the hall, ignoring the guest's questions except to tell them to stay inside. Reaching the door he opened it, but was somehow ignored as purple-faced Uncle Vernon and a pale Aunt Petunia argued loudly with an old man who looked like a stereotypical Merlin. Around him were several other people he identified as wizards, but since he hadn't really dealt with these people, he had no idea what wizards were really like.

'_Arrogant and biased.' _Suichi put forward, sounding surprisingly disdainful. _Always willing to believe the worst of normal people, they think they're the top of the food chain and everything else is lower and therefore stupider, because **wizards have magic**. The truth is that wizards generally can barely use proper grammar and math, their spells are ineffective against youkai and people with high reiki. Not to mention they're still stuck in the middle ages.'_

'_Tasty though.' _Suichi gave Youko the mental equivalent of a whack.

The older wizard looked sternly down his nose at the Dursleys. "You will bring Harry out here and we will take him and teach him what he needs to know to fulfil his destiny."

Petunia clutched Vernon tighter, terrified that the only thing left of Lily's that she had was going to be taken away and warped like his mother had been.

Vernon rallied together to protect the boy who had become his favourite nephew. "We will not allow you to destroy the life of the boy you left in our care! We will not permit it!"

Dumbledore narrowed his eyes at the muggles. "The choice is not yours to make."

"And neither is it yours." All eyes turned to the doorway and the beautiful boy with long black hair who was closing the door behind him, his gem-like green-rimmed gold eyes regarding the wizards with what could only be called distain.

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**Quote**: Isn't it funny how your best friends can turn out to be the best friends of your worst enemy.


	4. Chapter 3: Change

**Disclaimer: I dun own anything except the general plot and the odd character.**

About the math question, they don't teach math, ormost thingstaught in normal schoolsfor that matter, at Hogwarts except in arithmacy and possibly potions. Arithmacy, if memory serves, is an elective and therefore not compulsory. And then there's the math that is relevant to sciences, which wouldn't be taught cause it wouldn't be related to magic.

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**_Last Chapter._**

_Dumbledore narrowed his eyes at the muggles. "The choice is not yours to make."_

_"And neither is it yours." All eyes turned to the doorway and the beautiful boy with long black hair who was closing the door behind him, his gem-like green-rimmed gold eyes regarding the wizards with what could only be called distain._

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The older wizard's icy-blue eyes lit up and a grandfatherly smile appeared on his ancient face as he moved towards Whisper with his arms opened as if to hug him. "Harry, my dear boy! We were just telling your relatives that you had been accepted into my school. The very same school your parents attended." 

The same gold-green eyes coolly regarded the man as he got closer, making no move to get closer or further away for the approaching stranger. The only difference was the gold in his eyes pushing the green back even further, which was something Vernon and Petunia used to measure his temper. The more prominent the gold, the more irritable or angry their nephew was.

The eyes blinked as he turned his gaze towards his uncle, ignoring the old man in front of him, causing a stir of irritation in the man's aura. Whisper met his uncle's eyes. "Do you wish for me to attend this school?"

Vernon was caught and terrified by the gold eyes ringed with only a sliver of green, but shook a negative despite the primal fear that stirred within him. This reaction was not missed by either the black eyes of the dark haired wizard nor the pale grey ones of the wizard with the purple turban. It went right over the head of the old man.

The boy turned back to the man before him, disinterested in anything he had to say. "Then I shall not be attending your...school." Whisper put a great deal of doubt behind the word.

The old man smiled indulgently, his eyes twinkling. "I am afraid that my school is the only school in the country that is still accepting applications and your application to St Peter's School for Extraordinary Gentlemen was cancelled by accident. So if you wish to continue your education, and by law you must, the only option you have left open to you is Hogwarts."

Whisper curled his lip at the name and stared at the entirely too smug old man scornfully. "Someone obviously neglected to inform you that I'm a genius. Therefore, I always have a back-up plan in case something like this occurs. St Peters wasn't the only school I applied to. I have already been offered a position in several other highly acclaimed schools outside England. So you see, it is no great loss for me, rather the opposite as it offers me the opportunity to study in a whole new culture. All I need to accept a position in one of these schools is my legal guardian's signature."

Whisper turned his gaze back to his uncle and raised one impeccably naturally shaped eyebrow.

Beneath the fear in Vernon's eyes, there was a flicker of petty glee at there ironic twist that an eleven-year-old had out-manoeuvred a man at least seventy years his senior and had had the wizarding world dancing to his tune for most of it. Vernon nodded his agreement.

Whisper turned back to the old man, his Fox Smile Mark II: 'Fox In The Hen House'™ firmly in place. "Then it would emerge that your attendance at this juncture is superfluous. Furthermore, in regards to your proposal, I am disinclined to acquiescent your request."

At the perplexed expression on the old man's face, Whisper's Fox Smile Mark II was upgraded to Mark III: 'Forget The Hen House, I Found Where You Keep The Orphaned Lambs'™. "Means 'no'."

"Now see here, young man-!" The old man spluttered.

"No." Was the Fox-Child's only reply as he dismissed the old man and turned back to his aunt and uncle, who were relieved that the gold had regressed back to only a fifth of the iris. "I do believe we have a party to get back to."

Whisper turned and padded back inside.

The party had broken up several hours ago, and the Dursleys and 'Harry' were hashing out the details of which out of country school their nephew would be attending. So far, it had been decided that Whisper would be given a laptop with internet connection to help Dudley with his school work, he would get his own mobile phone, an allowance of five hundred English pounds a month and he would be staying with a host family. Really all that had to be sorted out was what school he would be attending. It took Vernon and Petunia Dursley nearly three hours to actually _ask_ Whisper what school he wanted to attend.

Whisper gave them his best unsure-but-game innocent smile. "How 'bout Meio Junior High? I hear Japan's nice this time of year."

Less than an hour later, the application form was faxed away and Youko was howling with laughter at a disgruntled Whisper as Petunia all but smothered him with affection.

In an unnamed room in Reikai, Luck was considering herself lucky that Fate and Destiny were still chewing out their little and only brother, Chance, and Fortune, having given up on her three younger siblings, was watching America's Funniest Home Videos in the corner.

Luck wasn't always as dumb as she was made out to be, she just did it to see the looks on the other's faces. Only Chance had an inkling of Lucks true nature. Hence the reason she was able to inconspicuously slip a Life Programme back into place without the others noticing.

A Life Programme labelled 'Hatori James Potter/Whisper, Suichi Daisuke Minamino and Youko 'The Fox Thief' Kurama'.

Glancing around the room, Luck frowned as she realised her…mildly unstable twin, Irony, was nowhere to be found.

Come to think of it, where the hell was their cousin, Hope?

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Quote: Why do people givecandy in heart shaped boxes? It's like eating ice-cream out of a lung.


	5. Chapter 4: Away

**Disclaimer: I dun own anything except the ggeneral plot and the odd character.**

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**Several Weeks Later One A Flight To Japan…**

Whisper was bored.

He had exhausted his yoyo, his gameboy, his slinky, hell, even his paper back copy of 'A Caress of Twilight', the second book of the Meredith Gentry series by L.K. Hamilton! It's really kind of sad when a kitsune loses interest in violent politics and detailed written porn.

But that's beside the point. The point is: Whisper was bored. He prayed to Inari for deliverance, which was granted…kind of.

As Irony would have it (And taking into account Irony and Inari's physical manifestation were seated right behind Whisper, trying unsuccessfully to smother their giggles behind a Dragon Knights Manga) Whisper was seated in a window seat, and blocking him in was a morbidly obese man Whisper had dubbed 'Da Blob'.

Around the time Whisper started praying, a sleeping 'Da Blob', still covered in the crumbs of his last meal, started tilting in Whispers direction.

Half and hour later, a traumatized Whisper was rescued by a sympathetic Attendant who had noticed the keening sounds coming from the 'empty' seat next to one of the ahem larger passengers, which was strange considering the flight for this class was booked out.

Two and a half hours later and a seat swap with a sympathetic muscular businessman who had noticed the problem, Whisper got off the flying death trap and swore he was never getting on another one unless absolutely necessary.

Another 37 minutes later, Whisper's host family still hadn't turned up, so he was involving himself with a complex cat's cradle, a rubrics cube and puzzle box lay completed on the seat next to him.

"Yo! You Hari?" Whisper acknowledged the mangling of his human name with a "Hai. Just a sec."

Whisper finished the cat's cradle and looked up to study the kid in front of him. And smirked.

This guy had _style_.

This guy, who could only be his host family's only child at 12 and a half, Sebastian, had a slender but well built form, standing at 5'5, was clad in a form-fitting navy blue T-shirt with SECURITY written in bold yellow, faded blue jeans cut-offs and…what appeared to be gum boots, a transparent raincoat and sporting a pink umbrella depicting yellow ruber duckies. A glance outside confirmed a bright and sunny day.

The face was pale and triangular with a mop of pale metallic blue tipped in royal purple and shaped into a rather trendy fly-away pageboy cut. The face was eye-catching on its own, even without the huge palest green eyes lined in kohl. And that wasn't even taking into account the multiple silver studs gracing the ears of the teen, and the numerous silver pendants and black cords around his neck and wrists.

All this Whisper took in with a glance and was stored away for reference. The mildly unbalanced and totally hyper grin the teen was giving him was making Suichi nervous, judging from the strangled sounds of a dying chicken he was making. Youko snickered.

"You're Sebastian Niwa?"

The teen beamed even brighter. "Nope! I'm the Tooth Fairy."

Whisper's smirk widened. "Then where's the three pounds you owe me for those last few teeth I lost? I was planning on investing that money in my bid for world domination entitlements."

Sebastian threw his head back and let loose a loud semi-insane bark-like laugh. He shoved his hand under Whisper's nose, who took the proffered hand and turned it over as if looking for something.

Whisper gave the teen a look of mock-exasperation. "You honestly expect me to go with someone I don't know? You're supposed to at least offer candy and a ride to get that response."

The other boy collapsed to the floor cackling. When he finally settled down, he bounced to his feet and bowed. "Call me Seb. Sorry we're late. The Oldies are out trying to find a car park. We would have gotten here sooner if we hadn't stopped to help this old granny who decided to cark it on the crossing." Seb picked up bags and led Whisper out of the airport without pausing for breath while acting like the wounded party in the tale. "I told my folks to just leave her there since she so obviously planned the whole thing out, but nooo, we just had to stop and see if she was alright, then we had to wait for the people to come and taking her away, and _then _they had the nerve to ask me to pick up her groceries. But, hey, at least I got something out of it." The two ground to a halt in the pick up area and Seb waved a packet of pocky at the 'younger' boy, who had a weird smile combining amused disbelief and a 'what-the-hell?' look on his face.

Whisper raised an eyebrow at Seb, who grinned. "What? You honestly think I'd steal from the recently deceased? Hell no! These have probably been in my pants since the last time I wore them who knows how long ago. Eeww saw eeww dun wan any?" Seb asked with his mouth full, offering Whisper the packet. Whisper shook his head with a grimace.

Seb shrugged and looked around, muttering, "Where in the name of hell's basement are they? Hang of a sec." This last was said to Whisper as the Hyper Drive Boy pulled out his mobile. "Hello, Mummsiness. Where are you?...Yes, I got him. Cute little ankle biter." Whisper snorted. "So where are you? 'Cause there's this weird mime standing in the corner over there and he keeps giving me funny looks. Between you and me, I think he plans to molest me and then you'll have to spend tens of thousands of yen a month to pay for therapy, but in the end it will all be for nothing because I'll end up being killed in a freak sky-diving 'accident' and-Huh?" Seb looked at his phone. "She hung up on me. How insensitive. I feel so alone. WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO WHEN A MOTHER ABANDONS HER CHILD!" This last was screamed to the heavens from a kneeling position.

Whisper poked is foster-brother in the ribs at the climax, producing a loud squeak from the other boy. Seb bounced up indignantly and made as if to yell at Whisper, but was distracted by the bane of all parent's existence.

Seb's eyes got huge and starry as he stared through a shop window at the devil's gift to children. Seb squealed.

"PIXIE STICKS!"

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'_I think I'm in love.' _Youko muttered to his counterparts. Whisper was inclined to agree.

This kid had everything a kitsune found attractive. He was interesting, gorgeous, had a killer fashion sense, quirky sense of humour and he was decidedly odd. Whisper had already been half-infatuated before Seb had even opened his mouth.

Suichi sighed in his little notch in the back of Whisper's memory bank. It was turning into Kuronue all over again.

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Pleez review

Quote: Do vegitarians eat animal-shaped cookies?


	6. Chapter 5: Loneliness

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the general plot and the odd character.

To those who asked if this story was gonna be slash, i ask you, do you honestly believe an eleven year old is gonna get into a relationship? He hasn't even his puberty. So no, it won't be slash. Possibly in a sequal, but not in this story. Sorry. ;o)

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Whisper had settled in reasonably well into the beautiful two-story country house the Niwas' called home, which really wasn't that hard considering how amusingly odd this particular family was.

Mrs Nanako Niwa was a small and rotund, but energetic woman with her dark hair up in a bun and possessing a round, surprisingly pretty face complemented by the same pale green eyes as her son, which twinkled with mischief and all-round good humour. This was odd considering she was a litigator. She had, however, a stubborn streak wide enough to drive a semi through and she most definitely expected her orders to be carried out.

Mr Leon Niwa was a tall, slender mellow man with an older version of his son's face, though his eyes were a beautiful syrupy brown that flashed hints of gold in the right light. He was a platinum blond.

Mr Niwa owed part of his blood to a few Germanic ancestors, but he was really a quiet, shy and kind man with a rather pleasant disposition. According to Seb, Mr and Mrs Niwa met at a Charity Benefit Function. He was a well-known child psychologist.

Whisper was at a loss as to how two such normal people had produced such an off the wall kid like Seb. Whisper had seen the junk shop Seb called his room. It appeared to be queerly ordered in a way that only Seb knew how to navigate.

Whisper quite liked his own room though. It was sky blue with midnight blue panelling, carpet and curtains and all the furniture was darkly lacquered wood. Whisper liked blue. Suichi said it had something to do with the colour of Whisper's natural aura and his natural affinity with water and plants, and thus cooler colours like blue, some greens, purples and greys.

"Come and get it!"

Whisper shoved his now empty suitcase under the bed and wandered downstairs for dinner.

**One week Later…**

Several plants now decorated Whisper's room and there was a portable indoor rock fountain sat in the corner, depicting a red fox sitting beneath a ginkgo tree at the head of a foot-high waterfall and pond. By the north-facing window and window seat were the paints, brushes, canvas and stand Whisper had bought on a whim, along with the art folder, charcoals, pastels and water-colour pencils neatly arranged on the desk between the two large windows. The west facing window led onto a small balcony that overlooked a garden Whisper had spent most of the week and a lot of money taming, with a rather pretty view of the surrounding woodland. The canvas currently depicted a dark forest glen with a waterfall and pool. Whisper had yet to put any of the exact details or the character into the picture. Whisper found he rather liked painting and drawing.

'_You know, this place isn't really all far from Genkai's temple.'_

"Hmm…?" Whisper paused to contemplate the picture on his sketch pad as he lay stretched out on his bed. It was a full-body charcoal sketch of himself in his adult kitsune form. '_Who?'_

'_Genkai. She is, or was, a powerful psychic who could control the Spirit Wave Technique. She used to take missions as favours to Prince Koenma. Last I saw her, she was a kick ass old lady with a killer sense of humour. She trained Yusuke.'_

'_Ah.' _Whisper contemplated his sketch critically for a few moments before answering Suichi. '_Do you think she'd be interested in a part time gardener?'_

Suichi gave him a mental smile and a gentle laugh. '_I'm sure she'd be grateful for a gardener who can control Makain and Reikain plants. If memory serves, she was always relieved when I offered to tame her gardens.'_

'_And I don't suppose it has anything to do with a certain fire demon, would it?'_

Suichi's mental self gave the impression of a pained look. When he answered, it was soft and wistful. '…_I burned those bridges long ago. The path behind me is blocked, so I have not choice but to continue forward.' _Suichi sounded so sad and wistful, longing. '_But…But I do want to see him again. He was the first person to truly understand me in that life. The first to **want** to understand me. He was my very first friend as Suichi. Would it be such a bad thing, such a terrible thing to want to see how he is? Even if he doesn't know I'm there?'_

'_Did he know?'_

"_That I loved him? No. I do not believe he would have understood it even if I had shown it to him. I loved him, needed him, relied on him, but I was never** in** love with him. Ours was a friendship built on loneliness. I have prayed that he would find happiness.'_

'_I know…because that is the same relationship that exists between the three of us. A companionship built on need. We care, we love, but if we were to be separated, we would distance ourselves from one another because we have been too close for too long. But we would always **remember** each other. And that is what is important. He will remember the colour of your eyes when no other remembers your name. He will remember your heart when your bones are dust. That is a type of immortality. Not a happy thought, but a true one.'_

'…_I'm lonely.'_

"_We are always alone. We may interact with others, but we are always alone. That is reality.' _Whisper got up and left his room. '_Go to sleep. It only hurts when you think about it.'_ Agreement came from Youko as he pulled the unresisting Suichi into subconsciousness, the 'Threefold Lament' echoing around Whisper's mind.

After telling Mrs Niwa he was going for a walk, Whisper wandered out into the mid-morning air and down the driveway towards the main road.

There was a reason Whisper liked to be kept occupied. When he had nothing to do or think about, his mind came up with the most depressing topics. Whisper _despised_ philosophy.

Whisper didn't notice Seb watching him walk away from his bedroom window. This kid could project his mood to just about anyone, and, at the moment, just looking at him made Seb depressed. It was something Seb had noticed Hari could do on the first day. Seb turned from the window and put on loud, happy music.

Summer was ending.

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**Pleez Review**

**Quote:**And, lo, the gods play chess with the lives of men, and when they appear to be losing, they throw the board across the room in a fit of petulance.


	7. Chapter 6: Monotonous

Disclaimer: Ya know, there's actually a reason it's called FANfiction.

And that last quote was a paraphase of a much longer quote that i couldn't be bothered to look up again.

Oh-oh! And most OCs will only have a second or cameo role in the story.

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Whisper was settled into a window seat towards the back of the class before homeroom even started. He didn't like the looks the other kids were giving him, but then, he was used to it. They would settle down in a few weeks.

Whisper was still gazing out the window, barely listening, when the bell that signalled the end of homeroom rang, and he went off to his first period; Science.

A week. Whisper had been going to school here at Mieo Junior High for a week, and even though he had friends he sat with at recess and lunch, he still felt that something was missing, and since Seb was a year ahead of him, he couldn't really associate with him in school because of the delegated areas set out for each year.

It was the same every day; a monotonous cycle. Get up at dawn, shower, get ready for school, have breakfast, catch a bus to the train station, take the train to the suburb the school was in, start school at 7AM, get out of school at 4PM, catch the train and then the bus home, do homework, held Dudley with his homework via MSN messenger, have dinner, go to bed. Whisper was glad tomorrow was Sunday, the one day off in the whole school week. He was also, in a way, glad he had decided not to go to Genkai's.

School was tiring. A strain. Not that he had any trouble with the work, it was just that something was unsettling him. There was something in the air and it was agitating his kitsune blood. It was irritating the hell out of him.

"Yo!" A face appeared in front of Whisper's.

"Hey, Sen."

Sen pouted when Whisper barely blinked. Sen brightened. "Oh well! Guess what!"

Whisper half-turned, chin still in hand. "The aliens have landed and they want your brain?"

"Nope! Even better! We're LAB MATES!"

Whisper thought he felt the world tremble, but no, it was just the class.

Whisper frowned. He turned to look at the entire class behind him. They appeared to be frozen in terror.

A brief rundown of his memories answered _that_ question. Sen, a cute energetic brundette with huge tawny gold eyes (from a wolf-youkai ancestor), was a menace in the lab. On Monday, she made a kid's hands glow in the dark for three days. She had melted the last lab table with a range of what should have been harmless materials and lip gloss. They were still trying to find her other two partners.

With her track record, Sen shouldn't have been let in the same room as a Bunsen burner, but Sen was…manipulative, so the teachers indulged her and let her blow stuff up to her heart's content. Hence the reason she was one of his friends.

Whisper sighed in resignation. "Fine. Who's our other partner?"

"Mika."

Someone whimpered in the background.

Mika was…horrifying. He was a blue-eyed blond who was almost as bright, cheerful and hyper as Sen. Unfortunately, unlike Sen who just blew junk up, Mika had the unfortunate habit of totally and utterly destroying people's lives…accidentally.

Whisper had tried his damnedest to stay away from Mika, but the girl who was assigned to sit next to him in History had had a trip down a stair well after Mika had turned and accidentally knocked into her, thus letting Mika have the seat next to him. It didn't help Mika sat in front of him in Math too.

Whisper took a deep shuddering breath to steady himself.

"Fine, just as long as you sit between us and he doesn't try to talk to or help me."

"Okie-dokie!"

Sen bounced off somewhere to bug someone else, allowing Whisper to bury his face in his hands. But his peace was not to last.

"Hey, Hari! Heard you got paired with the resident crazies."

Whisper didn't bother looking up. He considered seeking enlightenment from Inari-sama as to why these thing always happened to him, but after what happened on the plane, he was considering turning to some other god, say, Anubus; Whisper'd heard that He actually told the truth or did as requested when He chose to answer, no punches pulled.

But Whisper had gone off on a tangent.

"Piss off."

Whisper smirked into his arms when he imagined the petulant pout on Lance's face. Whisper had decided in his first meeting with Lance that he would treat him with amused condescension. Lance was arrogant, proud, brash, conceited and spoilt, not to menton that _massive_ inferiority complex of his. It was like jumping on a fire-ant nest – fun and amusing as hell.

Then there was the itty bitty teeny tiny matter of Whisper being almost positive Lance wanted the genius foreigner 'Hari' to like him to the point of obsession. Whisper knew it was nasty, but he couldn't help himself. It was just so easy.

"I don't think I will." Whisper felt Lance plonk himself into the chair next to him, his flunkies conspicuously absent.

Whisper grunted, too mentally exhausted to really care at this point in time if Lord Raizen came back from the dead, dressed in drag and did the hula right in from of him.

"HEY! That's my seat!"

"Drop dead, gaki."

"But it's my seat! Tell him, Hari!"

'_If you weren't so obnoxious, I might have. And who the hell told you my name?'_

"Haa-rii!"

'_And no singing my name.'_

"Piss off, gaki. Why would he want to talk to someone like _you_?"

'_That was cold._' Youko commented.

Whisper agreed, so he sat up and glared at Lance, who was looking way too smug. Mika looked shocked and hurt.

"Lance." Lance turned and faltered when he got a good look at the boy he had been trying to get the approval of since the start of school. The look he was giving him could only be called venomous. "Return to you own designated seat and contemplate what a callous, little spoilt gaki you are."

Lance looked shocked and hurt. Mika was looking way too smug.

Whisper turned his gold-green eyes to Mika. "And you…you stop going off your face about every little thing, especially if it comes out of Lance's mouth. NOW SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!"

Everyone in the room sat down wherever they were and shut up, all the while staring at the usually reasonably quiet boy.

Whisper buried his head in his arms again. He wasn't feeling too good.

'_Something is leeching our energy.'_

'_Huh?'_ For some reason, everything was kind of muffled, sight, sound, even his thoughts.

Suichi and Youko exchanged mental glances. '_Whisper, you need to go to the nurse's office. Your energy is being drained way too fast. If it continues, you'll collapse in class.'_

'_Kay.'_

Whisper sat up and raised his arm to try to get his teacher's attention. Much good it did him since she was facing the blackboard and she didn't like him to begin with.

After ten minutes of the teacher studiously ignoring him, and the ringing in his ears getting worse, Whisper resorted to drastic measures. "Miss!"

The teacher whirled around and glared at him. "What is so important that you felt the need to disrupt the class so rudely!"

Whisper blinked and swayed for a moment before his disoriented mind could make sense off it. "I need to go to the nurse's office."

The teacher glared at him. "You don't look that sick to me."

Whisper would probably have come up with some witty comeback, but his body chose that moment to make the most damaging comeback of all, at least as far as the teacher's career was concerned.

Whisper tumbled off his chair in a dead faint and hit his head on the corner off the metal lab desk.

But just before he collapsed, he noticed a short figure in black and white standing in the doorway like he had just skidded to a halt. He had red eyes.

* * *

Whisper could hear screaming and shouts for what felt like forever until some other voices arrived and started giving orders. A cool hand touched his forehead before jerking away.

"Dehydration. And a dangerously high fever. How he managed to stay conscious and coherent as long as he did is unbelievable. This bump worries me though. Someone call an ambulance."

"He had his hand up since nearly the beginning of class. The teacher just ignored him and when he asked to go to the nurse's office, she said he didn't look sick, then he collapsed. He really did look sick." That voice sounded like Sen's, but he couldn't be sure.

"Indeed." That sounded like Principal Akira and he didn't sound happy.

/**_Kurama/_** Asked an outside voice, sounding like it barely hoped to hope.

'_Hiei?'_ Suichi sounded honestly startled.

'_What the hell-!'_ was all Whisper heard from Youko before he felt a tug in his navel, and his soul was torn free of the body.

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**ATTENTION! **Just so you know, after this chapter I'm gonna really _really_ tinker with and twist Whisper's life. Think 'Fate's-Favourite-Chew-Toy' tinker and 'Why-Is-This-Happening-To-Me?-Whimper' Twist. I'm gonna be sending him out to other worlds to gather minions (read: irritating parasites who just WON'T LET GO OF HIS DAMNED LEG!). Probably a new worldeach year of his life.

I'll give you a hint for this world: This world has a cute little blond with Yusuke-Syndrome and a love oframen.

The first to guess which world gets a cookie.

Quote:A positive attitude will not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. _Thanx 4 this one goes toTearful Joy._


	8. Chapter 7: Difference

**Diclaimer: I own nothing but the general plot line and the odd character.**

**To all you lovely little people who reveiwed and answered Naruto, HAVE A COOKIE! I know i said only the first one could have one but, eh, whatever.**

**Anyway, any questions in regards to the YYH group will be answered when he gets back to that world with his little minions -cough- sorry,I mean, friends.

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'_Odd…'_

This was the first conscious thought that crossed Whisper's mind. He pondered this for a moment before he decided that that particular thought belonged to Suichi.

'_What's odd?'_

Youko chuckled. '_Tell me what you see.'_

'…_Trees, leaves, sky, clouds…' _Whisper responded, somewhat confused by his mind guests. '_Why?'_

Youko snickered nastily and Whisper got the impression that Suichi was glaring disapprovingly at the fox. It was Suichi who answered him.

_'We are outside, in a forest, and you collapsed inside, in a classroom. We should at least be in the nurse's office.'_

'_Ahh.'_

Whisper sat up and looked around. Yup, a forest. And mountains. And a large white water river by the sounds of it.

_'…What happened to the uniform.'_

Whisper glanced down at the odd clothes he was wearing. Trust Youko to notice something like fashion and not notice the fact that Whisper was significantly taller than previously, though not nearly as tall as his adult human form of 6'5ft. Whisper guess he looked about sixteen or seventeen.

The black kitsune throwback wore a black outfit reminiscent of Hiei's outfit, instead of his usual red-lined black school uniform, but while Hiei had a white strip around his waist, Whisper's was a deep royal blue. The accessories that went with his outfit were a pair of soft leather black boots, fingerless black leather glove that went past the elbow and had blue vambraces (armguards) with built-in brass knuckles. Hanging off his hips in a criss-cross fashion were two belts holding various pouches, as well as a pair of samurai swords crossed over his ass, a black leather whip interwoven with small metal spikes hanging from his right hip and a blue steel shakrum hanging from his left. A slight shift in weight confirmed several hidden knives.

However, his most favouritest (it that even a word?) articles were the Hiei-ish black cloak, the royal blue scarf and the matching royal blue headband. His hair hung down past his waist, and swishing stylishly every time he moved. Youko was cooing like a proud parent.

If one ignored the hair, and if he were any less dignified, Whisper probably would have bounced and squealed like a fangirl.

'_What's in the pack?'_ Suichi asked curiously. From the sounds of it, Youko had once again segued into Whisper's subconscious.

Whisper looked around and noticed a previously unnoticed black canvas pack leaning against the closest tree. Looking into it, he found that it was filled with various dried food stashes, a pot, a plate, a cup and water skin, cutlery, a wetstone, a portable mini sewing kit, a couple of handheld books, a medi-kit, extra clothes and various other odds and ends that one would need on the road in the feudal era.

Whisper had shouldered the pack and was trying to decide which was to go, surprisingly unsurprised at his predicament, when a great deal of youki exploded to the North-West.

Instinctively, Whisper took off at a dead sprint towards the outburst. He was only twenty or so yards from ground zero when he questioned why his instincts said, '_**GO THAT WAY!'**_

Suichi spoke with only mild interest. _'It's a type of youki sent out by kitsune in distress or in need of assistance. It's considered bad form not to respond, unless you are the one who put them in their position, or they deserve it.'_

Whisper mentally grumbled a he skidded to a halt at the tree line to take in the scene, and only throwing himself to the side saved him from the fireball headed straight for his head.

"The hell-!"

Whisper bounced back up, took three steps forward and grabbed the two kids, a blonde and a redhead, by the scruff of the neck and hauled them back and behind a conveniently placed old oak just in time to avoid a blast of water that would have at the very, very least knocked the kids insensible.

"Come out! We only want the demons!"

Whisper looked down at the kids on either side of him. The blonde stared up at him with worried crystal blue eyes. The redhead just looked at him with morbid curiosity out of eyes that had large black bags under them. He frowned at the tree in from of him and snorted.

"They're not demons. They're fuzzy maracas."

Whisper got a duel elbow in the gut from both sides for that little comment. He snickered anyway.

"So," Whisper looked at his companions. "How good are your escaping skills?"

He didn't wait around for an answer and took to the trees. A slight creak said that at least one of the kids was following.

Ten yards from ground zero, someone yelled, "They're running!" and there were sounds of pursuit. Then there were screams of agony as they came across one of the large man-eating plants Whisper had accidentally on purpose been dropping since the foot of the oak tree.

After about five minutes of heading towards the river, the three hit the bank and pulled a sharp right to follow the current downstream.

Alas, the three par-demons didn't get far before they found themselves backed against the river high-bank, surrounded on the remaining three sides by twelve or so guys in black coats decorated by red clouds. The leader appeared to be the older youth with shoulder-length black hair and dead red eyes.

'_Am I the only one getting déjà vu?_' Whisper pondered mentally. '_Cause this guy looks kinda like a tall Hiei.'_

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**Quote:** Kindergarten was the best three years of my life.

_Sorry, it's the best i could come up with. - -'_


	9. Chapter 8: Happenings

**Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto, Yu Yu Hakusho nor Harry Potter.**

This story takes place somewhere during the time Naruto goes off with Jiraiya to train. For the purposes of my story, Naruto and Gaara got kidnapped and managed to escape. The rescue team arrived towars the end of the fight.

The 'Fuzzy Maraca' thing was from the Lion King 2 (which i also don't own.).

And to **Curry**, how much of Naruto have you actually seen, that you don't know who Mr Red Eyes is?

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There was a beeping sound near his head, and a flexing of his arm confirmed a needle of some sort. Whisper blinked his eyes open and looked around the bright room. He turned his head lightly and saw an open door that led to a hall.

He stared blankly at the door for several minutes as a few people he identified as humans passed by, trying to figure out what was wrong with the picture.

One of the boys from before, the one with chaotic blond hair, crystalline blue eyes and looked to be around fourteen-ish, appeared in the doorway. His entire face lit up when he saw that Whisper was awake, making him appear rather cute in an adorably dopey puppy-ish way.

"You're awake."

Whisper blinked, still trying to figure out what was wrong with this picture. Suichi chuckled in his head. '_He's wearing the most offensive outfit I have ever seen.'_

Whisper's eyes flickered and blinked rapidly for a second as his mind tried to come to terms with the offensively bright orange, not to mention ugly, jumpsuit the kid was wearing. Whisper's eyebrow shot up and it came out before he could stop it.

"Where the hell am I?"

The boy snickered ungracefully, before sobering. "You're in Konoha, in the Hidden Village of Leaf. We brought you here after you collapsed." The grin returned, but this time it was tinged with admiration. "The way you went head to head with Itachi was just _soo_ cool! Can you teach me to fight like that?"

Whisper put up a hand to stop the advance of the starry-eyed boy as he edged closer. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Backtrack. My memory's kinda blank after we stopped by the river and got surrounded, so could you give me a minute or so to sort out my head?"

The blonde rolled his eyes and did the lip-blowy thing particular to kids, horses and llamas. He threw himself onto the chair beside the hospital bed, while Whisper started staring at the ceiling in an attempt to collect his thoughts.

'_Alright, what happened?'_

Youko shifted to the surface. Whisper got the distinct impression that he and Suichi were exchanging almost guilty glances.

'_Your youkai side woke up because the threat was greater than any you've ever faced in this life. The guy with red eyes was at least upper Class A, possibly Class S, and you're only lower Class A at the moment. With you're demon-side's survival instincts, enhanced reflexes and sheer ferocity, you were able to beat Mr Red Eyes. However, from what I can gather from the various conversations held around you while you were unconscious, the humans that attacked you were from an organisation called Akatsuki. Akatsuki attacks, captures, then draws out the demons of those who have a demon sealed within them…"_

'…_What aren't you telling me?'_ Whisper inquired sceptically, noticing how Suichi trailed off.

Youko sighed. _'The youkai side was subtle, no physical changes but for your eyes, which were spinning the green and gold into a continuous spiral, and the slightly lengthened nails, nothing that couldn't be passed off as a particularly vicious and aggressive human…right up until another guy put a sword through you chest via your back.'_ Whisper winced. '_You were just too busy going 'head to head', as the brat said, with the guy with red eyes to notice yourself being manoeuvred away from the river at your back. And it's not like you couldn't heal it fast and sufficiently enough to fight back after you pulled it out.'_

Whisper knew Youko meant it as a complement, but the details were making him queasy once it clicked that he had effectively _pulled _a sword out of his _chest._ That and said wound had managed to fight its way past the painkillers.

'_Look on the bright side, at least neither of the kids noticed.'_ Whisper was grateful that Suichi was trying to make him feel better, not that it was working. And Youko just _had_ to throw in his two cents.

'_And on the down side, this 'Akatsuki' now thinks you are either a demon or you have one sealed inside you.'_

'_Yeah. And isn't it ironic that I'm a bit of both.'_ Whisper 'watched' a scary Chibi-Suichi chase a Chibi-Youko around his head with a frying pan, going on about how he shouldn't have brought that up yet. Once Youko was in a 'battered heap' with stars circling his head, Whisper asked Suichi something he'd been pondering since it came up. '_I thought you said my youkai side wouldn't become active until puberty, regardless of situation.'_

'_Well, you're not exactly a kid at the moment, now are you?'_

Whisper blinked, Youko snickered. '_Point.'_

Whisper blinked his way out of his reverie when the blonde beside the bed made a bored and irritable sound. When Whisper turned to regard the blond, he perked up and smiled a little sheepishly, a small amount of what might have been hope behind it. Whisper gave a slightly confused but nevertheless amiable smile in return.

"What's you're name, kid."

The kid popped. That was the only word Whisper could think of to describe it and still find it amusing. Heh, 'popped'.

"HEY! I'm not a kid, dammit! I am Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage, and don't forget it!"

Whisper blinked at him, then smiled. "And you need to learn subtlety, 'cause you just gave me enough information for someone to manipulate you for their own purposes."

The kid obviously didn't know what he was getting at. "Huh?"

The dark haired boy sighed. "What I'm trying to say is, don't give so much information away when being introduced to someone for the first time. It allows them to form an opinion of you, which can, in turn, be used against you."

Naruto blinked. "Oh." Naruto frowned, 'trying' to think of something. He brightened. "Oh yeah! What's your name? Tsunade-baachan wants to know."

"Excuse me?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Oh! Sorry. Um…The Hokage wishes to know the name of the nin who saved one of her genin from the missing-nin, nearly at to cost of his own life."

Whisper stared at him, honestly surprised. Suichi and Youko also stared for a moment as well. Then Youko spoke. '_He pick up on your meaning abnormally quick. He's not as dumb as he appears.'_

'_Indeed.'_

Whisper decided to bring it up later, but for the time being, he settled on answering Naruto's question.

"You may call me Whisper."

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Pleez review.

**_Quote_**: "He sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good..." Is Santa a stalker or something?


	10. Chapter 9: Oddities

**_Disclaimer: I own nadda. Well...mostly nadda._**

**_To My Reviewers:_**

_Irony and Inari teamed up, that's how he got into that world. Honestly, what would you expect from a deity of humor and the patron goddess of foxes (who happen to be reknown as tricksters)?_

_He's a guy who turned up in the middle of nowhere and saved people he knew were demons-ish. Would you be suspiscious?_

_And yeah, he gets questioned in this chapter, and predictably he pussy-foots the subject._

**_Note:_**

_1.) Kitsune are supposed to go nuts for deep fried tofu._

_2.) The candied grasshoppers is in reference to foxes eating grasshoppers and liking sweets._

* * *

Aside from Whisper, there were nine people and a pig in the large airy room. Naruto was standing at the door with an older nin, the red-haired 'Fuzzy Maraca' stood to the side of the room with a blond girl holding a tessen and a…person with purple face-paint, and, last but not least, were the four standing around the desk towards the other end of the room. There was a girl around Naruto's age with pink hair and eyes almost as green as Suichi's, there was an old and with spiky white hair, a dark-haired girl holding the pig, and, seated behind the desk, a blonde woman with blue eyes and… 

Whisper stared.

He couldn't help it; the blonde woman's chest was just so _big_.

'_Thank you, Inari-sama!' _Youko crowed in Whisper's mind when he saw the woman, causing Whisper to blush like the eleven-year-old he was and look away coyly.

"Is something the matter?"

Whisper glanced at the woman before looking down again, shoulders hunched. "No. Nothing."

Naruto giggled from his place by the door. Either him, or it was the ninja with the eye-patch, mask and white hair, who happened to be setting a bad example by reading an orange book Whisper was almost positive was a dirty comic.

The woman raised an eyebrow, but let it pass. "Very well. I am Tsunade, Hokage of Konoha, the Hidden Village of Leaf. On behalf of the people, I wish to extend our thanks in helping one of our genin to return to his village safely, nearly at the cost of your own life. We ask what you would wish for as a reward?"

Whisper blinked. "Reward? I actually get a reward?" At Tsunade's nod, Whisper frowned and pondered, then brightened. "Do you have any candied grasshoppers? And some deep fried tofu?"

Everyone but Whisper, the masked nin (who was too busy reading his 'book') and the red-head face-faulted.

The busty blonde managed to haul herself up using the desk so she could stare incredulously at the young blue and black clad nin before her. "You risked life and limb for the brat, then ask for food as your reward? Where's your ambition? What kind of nin are you?

Whisper shrugged. "Yes, non-existent and a bad one. Can I have my tofu now?"

Everyone stared at the hopeful teenager for a long moment before Naruto broke down into a laughing fit.

Tsunade sighed. This kid was a weird one. "Yes. Fine." She waved her hand at the nin next to the door. "Kakashi. Go get our guest his tofu."

"Deep fired! And don't forget the candied grasshoppers!"

Tsunade almost shuddered at his semblance to Naruto at that moment. She sighed again. "Go." She said to the Copy Nin.

Kakashi left the room, confirming Whisper's suspicions by giggling again.

Someone cleared their throat.

All eyes turned to the fire-top and his companions as they stepped forward to address Whisper.

"I, Gaara of the Desert, Kazekage of Suna, The Hidden Village of Sand, wish to thank you for your assistance. If you had not come when you did, neither Naruto nor I would have been able to escape the Akatsuki." Gaara paused. "Why did you help us anyway?"

Whisper shrugged again. "Seemed like a good idea at the time."

Everyone still standing joined their companions on the floor.

(space)

Tired of Whisper's inane and abstract answers to her questions on his village of origin ("East of the sun and West of the moon…or thereabouts."), his clan ("Just call me Whisper. I'm just as embarrassed by them as they are of me."), his nin rank ("Rank? I got kicked out of the academy before I could graduate. Something about the teachers refusing to teach me." (He had no idea where that came from.)), what he was doing in the area at the time ("Looking. Wandering. Thinking. Blowing stuff up." (And, yes, he did get a few funny looks for that last one.)) and such, Tsunade got frustrated and threw him out of her office, telling Naruto to show him around.

So now, Whisper was happily sitting on top of a giant head carved into the cliff face overlooking the village and eating his deep fried tofu; his pack and a big bag of candied grasshoppers to his right and Naruto to his left, stuffing his face with miso ramen.

"Hey, dobe! I heard you ran into some trouble."

Naruto promptly choked on his ramen while Whisper half-turned to see who was behind them, chopsticks still at his lips as he chewed his tofu.

He blinked.

"Oh, look. A mini-Itachi."

* * *

**_Quote:_** I lay in bed last night, looking at the stars, when it occured to me. "...Where the Hell's my roof?" 


	11. Chapter 10: Indifference

_**Disclaimer: **If you recognise it from elsewhere, then i dun own it._

_Glad you all like the previous chappie._

_On with the show!_

* * *

Last Chapter

_"Hey, dobe! I heard you ran into some trouble."_

_Naruto promptly choked on his ramen while Whisper half-turned to see who was behind them, chopsticks still at his lips as he chewed his tofu._

_He blinked._

_"Oh, look. A mini-Itachi."_

Now

The boy behind them was around Naruto's age, clad in a black shirt, a blue jacket and black shorts…oh! And black hiking boots. His hair was kinda odd; long at front and kinda streamlining along the sides to point at the back. And, just like Itachi, the kid had red eyes.

And right now, the boy's hands were clenched, his eyebrow was twitching and he was radiating an almost tangible aura of what a little voice in his head called killing intent.

"I am nothing like my brother!" Whisper raised an eyebrow. If the kid wasn't so obviously human, Whisper would have mistaken the kid for one of Hiei's non-existent procreations just from his snarl.

"Of coarse you're not." Whisper soothed mockingly. "But you know, De Nile isn't just a river in Egypt."

Though the kid probably had no idea what the Nile was, he did catch the Denial pun.

"I am not in DENIAL!"

Whisper nodded wisely and said with a patronizing tone, "You just keep telling yourself that and maybe one day you'll believe it."

"I AM NOTHING LIKE HIM!"

The kid lunged at Whisper before Naruto could do or saw anything, Whisper swayed to the side and the kid's momentum threw him off the cliff-face.

"SASUKE!"

Everything slowed down, allowing the three foxes in one body to see and feel everything clearly in but a moment; Sasuke's startled look as he went over the edge, Naruto's anguished one as he called the dark-haired boy's name, the red fading into pained dark eyes as he realised Naruto cared for him even after everything he'd done…and the sudden blast of kitsune energy from Naruto.

Whisper knew he'd probably regret it, but he reached for his whip anyway.

(**space)**

Something had tightened in Sasuke's chest when he'd first seen Naruto eating with the older boy on the Hokage Monument. Something he'd thought he was beyond.

Jealousy.

He had been jealous of the beautiful boy sitting next to Naruto. It had hurt him when he realised that Naruto was no longer his best friend. It hurt even worse when he saw the evidence firsthand.

He had been replaced.

Sasuke knew Orochimaru had told him to simply observe this new nin who had managed to hold off the Akatsuki until help arrived, but he couldn't help it. He had to prove to himself and Naruto that he was better than this unknown nin.

"Hey, dobe! I heard you ran into some trouble."

While Naruto had choked, the boy had just turned around to look at him, cute as you please, and stated-

"Oh, look. A mini-Itachi."

This-this _person_ compared him to Itachi. _Itachi._ Sasuke was so angry!

"I am nothing like my brother!"

The boy had just…looked at him. Looked at him like he didn't believe him.

"Of coarse you're not." The boy had mocked him. "But you know, De Nile isn't just a river in Egypt."

Denial? Him? Sasuke was not in denial. Denial was for the weak.

"I am not in DENIAL!"

The boy had just continued to mock him. "You just keep telling yourself that and maybe one day you'll believe it."

"I AM NOTHING LIKE HIM!"

Sasuke couldn't stand it; the anger at being compared to Itachi, being told he was just like that murderer, the jealousy of that nin sitting with the boy who was once his best friend, loneliness but being unable to go back, pain when he realised Naruto didn't need him.

Sasuke had attacked the nin, but he had forgotten the cliff. The boy simply side-stepped. Even with his Sharingan on his side, Sasuke had been unable to stop in time.

As he fell he twisted, and saw the look of bored indifference on the boy's face. A look he had seen on Itachi's face every time they fought. A killer's mask.

Then…something changed.

The odd gold-rimmed green iris bled into a spiral and started spinning. Something flicked in those eyes when Naruto yelled something. Sasuke felt that whatever Naruto had said demanded a decision and had been decided. It took what felt like an eternity for Sasuke to realise that Naruto had called his name. Too late.

Sasuke was falling.

His eyes closed.

Something sharp wrapped around his ankle and tightened.

His eyes opened.

"Whoa." Was heard from the blonde.

The boy had used his whip to grab Sasuke's ankle before he fell out of reach.

"I just _know_ I'm gonna regret this later."

* * *

**Quote: **'It's impossible to make any plan foolproof because fools are so ingenius.' One of Murphy's many laws. _Courtesy of **-PsychicLunar-**_


	12. Chapter 11: Hurt

**_Disclaimer: I own only the main story line and the odd character._**

**_Reviewers:_**

_It was the spiked whip he had on his hip._

* * *

"I knew I'd end up regretting saving you." Whisper told the bound boy to his left. The boy growled through his gag and glared.

Naruto, Whisper and Sasuke were seated in front of the Hokage's desk while Tsunade threw a fit…and a few chairs.

Apparently, Sasuke had gone AWOL last year or something and joined an enemy village. The three were facing a full enquiry after Whisper had thrown the dark-haired boy over his shoulder and bound off to the Hokage's office, Naruto following like a lost puppy.

"Why did you save him, anyway?"

Whisper turned his now normal green-gold eyes to Naruto's deep blue ones. His answer stopped even Tsunade's rampage. Everyone stared at the boy as he stood and left the room.

No one had expected anyone who knew of the demon to have said that to Naruto, let alone a stranger.

_"His death would have caused you sorrow."_

(**space)**

"Whatcha doin'?"

The blue-haired girl squeaked and tripped when she tried to whirl around.

Whisper giggled and offered the blushing girl a hand up.

Pale blue-grey, pupil-less eyes stared at the beautiful nin before them, blushing even more, and hesitantly taking the peach-coloured hand in her own white one.

Pulling the girl up firmly, Whisper asked, "Are you alright."

The girl glanced at him, before looking down. "Y-y-yes, th-thank you. I'm sorry to have troubled you."

"Don't mention it. It was my fault for distracting you, anyway."

There was a long moment of silence in which the girl shifted uncomfortably.

"So you're a nin, huh?"

The girl bobbed her head. "Hai."

"Ah. I'm Whisper by the way." He bowed.

The girl jerked straight, her blush back in full. "Oh! I'm sorry! I'm Hyuuga Hinata. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." She bowed in return.

"So, Hinata, have you ever learnt to use a whip?"

The girl looked at him blankly. "A whip?"

**(space)**

The sun was setting when two bedraggled blue-black haired figures wandered away from the Training Area and towards the closest restaurant, staggering and leaning on one another.

The two were giddy and were quite content to joke and muck around with one another as they plopped down into a booth in Ichiraku's Ramen Stand, ordering Inari Zushi for Whisper and Beef Ramen for Hinata while chatting about how Hinata was a natural with the whip Whisper had given her lessons in all afternoon, as well as random chatting about their likes and dislikes and what it's like growing up in their respective villages.

Whisper momentarily wondered where all this random information and memories came from before Youko came forward and informed the two par-humans near the surface that it was Divine Intervention being syphoned in through the subconscious.

Whisper just kind of ignored it after that.

"Hina-chan?"

"Hai, Aniki?" Hinata had started calling Whisper this in the third hour or so of the training, but he wasn't worried, rather he was flattered, thus, he allowed the nickname to continue. She'd even lost her stutter around him, which was an all-time first (though he didn't know it).

You see, Whisper was the only person aside from her crush, Naruto, who had ever treated her like an actual person instead of the Hyuuga Heiress the villagers saw, or the stuttering, useless failure the other Hyuugas' saw. Being around Whisper made her feel comforted and safe. He was patient with her during the training and he never made her feel inept when he had to correct her stance or hold. She felt wanted and protected. She had called him 'Aniki' on a slip of the tongue, but he had just smiled at her in a rather pleasant way.

He was the kind of family she had always longed for. If he let her, she had decided, Hinata would follow him wherever he would go. Even if it meant leaving Naruto.

"Would you help me with some clothes shopping?"

Hinata was jerked out of her thoughts by her Aniki's voice. Then it processed that _he_, one of the greatest nin Hinata had ever met, wanted _her_ help. It was clothing, but still, he wanted _her_ help.

"H-hai."

"Great!" He bounced up and the blue-haired girl noted that somehow they had both finished their meal while she hadn't been paying attention. "Let's go!"

**(space)**

Whisper had just dropped Hinata off at her clan compound, tired, happy and content, after a four hour shopping spree which, after he had explained that the clothes weren't for_ him_, but rather _Naruto_, the timid little nin had squealed and dragged him off to several shops where she claimed to have seen outfits she thought would look perfect on the blond. Whisper had to admit the girl had taste.

He was meeting her tomorrow morning at six to continue her whip training and, though she didn't know it, find her Core Class. Whisper suspected it would be either Rogue or Quest Class.

Whisper wandered towards where Naruto's apartment was according to Hinata, when he abruptly turned down a conveniently placed alley.

He stopped and tilted his head.

"Did you want something, Itachi-san?"

Said Uchiha detached himself from the shadows to Whisper's right, strangely devoid of the black coat of red clouds and his Akatsuki ring. The only hint that the Nukenin wasn't one of Konoha's Special Nin was the slashed Leaf Hitai-ate. Whisper fell in love with his outfit and swore to get one exactly like it.

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

So the Weasel was here out of curiosity.

"I have been called many names, many of them rude. However, I am currently using the name my demon gave me; Whisper. As to why I am here?" Whisper shrugged. "I'm classed as a Wandering Nin. Therefore; I wander."

Itachi blinked languidly.

"So you_ are_ a demon vessel then?"

"Not in the way you mean, but, yes, I am a type of demon vessel."

"And what does that mean?"

Whisper turned fully and smiled. "The specifics are for me to know and you not to. All you need to know is that you cannot take my demon because there is no Seal there to be transferred. Youko is within me of his own free will and not bound in any way, shape or form. Now, was there anything else you wanted to ask or is this a social visit?"

Itachi stared at the younger boy for a moment, obviously confused, reminding Whisper that Itachi was only nineteen and lacking in a normal childhood. The Nukenin probably couldn't understand why Whisper wasn't afraid of him.

"For whom do you exist?"

Itachi was caught off-guard, causing him to answer without thinking. "For myself, of course."

"Why do you do what you do?"

"For power."

"Why do you want power?"

Itachi blinked, obviously stunned. He probably hadn't thought of that before. Whisper had to admit Itachi recovered quickly when he narrowed his eyes and asked:

"For whom do _you_ exist?"

Whisper smiled and admitted, "For myself, of course."

Itachi's eyebrows drew in enough to crease his forehead. "Why do you do what you do?"

"I do what I want for my own reasons and because it is not in my nature to submit to the will of others, even if it means saving lives of unnamed innocents."

Itachi stared for a moment.

Whisper gave an ashamed half-smirk. "Despicable, aren't I?"

"Why?"

Whisper sighed and turned his gaze up to the deep blue night sky. "Three lifetimes of memories chase through my mind; The first life was ended because Youko was grieving for the loss of his friend and partner when the bounty hunter came upon him, The second was ended because Suichi believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that his friends would come and save him from that torture chamber where they never appear. It took him a week to die. And I shall not forgive them for that." Whisper lowered his gaze to look at Itachi with his sad green and gold eyes. "I will not make the same mistake as my predecessors and depend on others. I cannot. Kitsune are by nature selfish creatures; accessible to whim, quick to anger, easy to hurt. There is a reason we are social but not pack creatures. We feel too much and thus easy to harm, which is why we are so renowned."

Whisper regarded Itachi as he took everything the fox had said in and analysed it. "Power only exists for as long as you live. And when you die, you will become little more than a name on paper and all you have done will be undone. I see no point in garnering power as you do. You only live until you die, and that only happens once. I honestly don't see the point."

Whisper passed Itachi and continued on his way towards Naruto's apartment.

'_I don't know wether to be insulted or sympathetic. That was harsh.'_ Youko sounded oddly depressed.

'_But he's right.'_ Suichi's voice was heartbroken.

Whisper felt guilty as hell.

* * *

**_Quote: Life, Life cannot go by the letter. Time, Time, prozac can make it better._**


	13. Chapter 12: Possessive

_**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter, Yu Yu Hakusho or Naruto. Though, if I did I would be rich._

IT'S HERE! WHAT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! A little into how Kurama died and escaped, as well as a little on how Whisper feels about Itachi and Naruto, with just a bit of Kyuubi thrown in at the end to offset inbreeding. There is actually more to how and why Kurama died, but that won't be brought up until the end of this story or the sequel (yes, there will be a sequel. Several actually.)

Oh! And we also find out what happened to Hope. Poor person.

**WARNING! There is actually themes in this chapter, so little kiddies should have an adult present in case of nightmares. ;p**

* * *

"_RUN! NOW!"_

"_Kurama-?"_

"_Hiei, get them out of here! You can come back for me later!"_

_Hiei nodded, pain in his eyes, as he threw Yusuke and the unconscious Kuwabara through the portal to the Reikai. He turned and followed, the portal closing behind him as the shadow youkai overpowered the red-headed Suichi…_

_**FLASH**_

_SLAP!_

"_What's the matter, fox? Cat got your tongue?"_

_Suichi was suspended from the ceiling of the dungeon by a series of iron spikes attached to chains that had been embedded in Suichi's limbs and non-lethal points._

_As Youko, Suichi had been tortured before, but never with the skill and care as was dealt out by the darkness youkai before him. _

_Suichi closed his tired eyes and bowed his head, unable to speak even if he had wanted to._

_The demon leered as he ripped away what little clothing had survived Suichi's capture…_

_**FLASH**_

'_They aren't coming back for us! We have to leave the body before there's nothing left to save!'_

'_But they **will** come! They **have** to come!'_

'…_Suichi…They probably believe us to be dead already. They have given up on us…Come away.'_

_Suichi, close to breaking point and not entirely sane, sobbed but didn't resist as Youko bound their souls tighter in preparation for the escape._

_The body screamed and spasmed as the spirit fox forcibly pushed its way out of the body and severed many of the bonds tying them together. _

_The fox allowed itself a moment to rest before it struggled to its feet upon hearing the rapidly approaching footsteps, forcing itself to move despite the burning agony it was in._

_Pain washed through it once again as it sacrificed its hard earned seventh tail to once again escape._

_Just as they entered the portal, wards snapped up to stop portation, sending the end location of the portal way off-course…_

**space)**

Whisper was curled up on the bedroom windowsill of Naruto's apartment, clad only in an over-sized shirt he found in his pack (which had mysteriously appeared at Naruto's apartment shortly after her had), staring at the half-moon. He hadn't been able to sleep since he had dreamt about Suichi's last days about an hour ago. Every time he remembered he was seldom able to function through the depression the next day.

The blue-black haired fox hugged his knees tighter to his chest, his hair falling loose like a silken curtain now it was freed of its headband, baring the lightning scar. From his vantage point, Whisper could see three ANBU (Konoha's special assassinations force or something, he was ignoring Naruto at the time in favour of his tofu) and Itachi, who was coiled in the shadows of the window across the street.

Itachi confused the fox. For some odd reason, Whisper wanted to control him, but at the same time he wanted the Nukenin to just be there, which was really odd considering the two of them had been trying to brutally murder one another just the other day. He supposed that it was the kitsune '_MINE!-_complex rearing it's overly complicated head.

Kitsune loved power almost as much as shiny things; and Itachi had both. In addition, Suichi's residual complex involving Hiei had been triggered by Itachi's resemblance to the small fire demon. This particular complex usually had a kitsune lounging all over their victim-ahem-companion and molly-coddling them. Hiei had nearly taken Suichi's head off the first few times he'd glomped the smaller demon randomly, so Suichi had taken to doing so when the little Forbidden Child was exhausted from either training or a fight. In comparison, Kuronue had found it incredibly cute and had glomped Youko right on back, especially since that was the only time Youko would let him play with the fluffy ears he was so obsessed with.

A slight sound called Whisper's attention to the bed. Naruto appeared to be caught in the throughs of a nightmare.

Naruto was another…well, not exactly a problem per say, but it wasn't really a good thing either: More like a responsibility that, while they didn't dislike it, they didn't want anything to do with it. Unfortunately for Whisper, his kitsune side was demanding action in regards to the boy. The boy was obviously somehow connected to the kitsune race (how else would he have the youki?), and he had yet to see anyone taking an interest in the boy as a family member; therefore, his kitsune nature had teamed up with his human side and the two were running around his head, screaming '_MY KIT! MY KIT! MY KIT_!' to anyone in the Business Department of Whisper's Brain™ who would listen (Whisper was almost certain they were passing around a petition). Whisper was inclined to listen because it was a well known point of kitsune law that if a kistune found a kit, regardless of blood purity, who had no family, biological or otherwise, that kitsune had to adopt the kit unless someone else was willing to do so.

After another ten minutes of Naruto's whimpers and blatant refusal to settle, Whisper finally got up and trudged over to the bed and climbed under the blankets. The black fox winced as the blonde one latched onto him, but nonetheless he started running his free hand though the surprisingly fur-like hair and humming the ever familiar tune Youko had sung to him for as long as he could remember of his life.

Whisper drifted to sleep like that; humming, stroking the blue-eyed boy's hair and ever now and then trying half-heartedly to disentangle the blonde's legs from his own.

Therefore, it is totally understandable that he didn't notice when Naruto's eyes opened slightly to reveal slightly confused but strangely peaceful crimson eyes. The only thing Whisper noticed was when 'Naruto' tightened his hold on him and buried his face into the crook of his neck, a little behind the ear where his scent was strongest.

Deep in a cage in Naruto's mind, a pair of red eyes stared at the 'wall' opposite the jail, something akin to sorrow in them as they listened to a song they hadn't heard since time out of mind.

A wistful sigh echoed through the chamber.

(**space)**

Deep in the Deepest Darkest Pits of Irony's Closet(TM), Hope ( who had somewhere along the line stared wearing tight black leather and silver peircings) was feverently trying to chew through the ropes binding his wrists and swearing that whenhe got loose, cute fluffy tails or no cute fluffy tails, Inari and Irony were going to be beaten severely with dull, heavy objects.

* * *

**_Quote:_**"If it looks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck, we have at least got to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands." -- Douglas Adams---**Once again from Tearful Joy**


	14. Chapter 13: Awareness

**_Disclaimer: I own very little. This very little does not include Harry Potter, Yu Yu Hakusho or Naruto._**

**_Reviewers:_**

_The thing with the tails? Ignore it. It's a glitch._

_Kyuubi knows the tune cause it's ingrained into the minds of all kitsune at a young age by their parents. There will be more explantions later on._

**WARNING! This chapter gets kinda gory towards the end. Really gory.**

* * *

Whisper regarded the pile of orange clothing and smiled. It was not exactly a nice smile, more of a 'Kukukuku!' grin.

With the same insane grin on his face, Whisper dropped the lit match on Naruto's oil-soaked clothing. The pile went up with an audible 'PHOOMPF!'

Sasuke, duct taped to a single lounge chair and gagged, watched with morbid fascination as the blonde's entire wardrobe went up in flames. He'd turned up to pick up his team mate and woken up a pissy Whisper instead.

Naruto, the blonde in question, wandered past the merrily burning bonfire, contained in his dust bin, located in his lounge room, and into the kitchen, yawning and scratching his rear.

Hinata stood by the door, face bright red and staring at the blond boy with something between nigh total devotion and disbelief that she was actually in her crush's apartment. She'd turned up for the morning lesson he'd promised her.

And, for some odd reason, Gaara of the Desert stood next to Hinata with an expression similar to Hiei's 'The F--- Is This?' Look on his face. Whisper suspected it was to speak with him about what had happened.

Whisper hummed and turned back to his bonfire. It was just a matter of time before it occurred to Naruto that not only was there a fire in the room, but his friend was also taped in a position that was really bad for a nin to be in.

"And a 3…2…1-"

"AAAHHHH!"

Naruto bolted back into the room, looked at the bin fire, screamed again and ran back into the kitchen. Moments later, he ran back into the room with a cup of water, which he then threw onto the fire. The fire leaped indignantly.

The four nin watched as Naruto became more and more panicked as the fire refused to go out, until Whisper, noticing the tears in the blonde's eyes, went on a guilt trip and kicked the bin over so it was upside down, cutting off the fire's air supply.

Naruto turned his big crystalline eyes to Whisper's vibrant gold and emerald ones in a silent plea for comfort. The black fox cringed mentally but held out an arm in an invitation. The blond latched on and didn't let go.

As he started humming, he wondered if anyone had ever offered this when Naruto was a child. His eyes glanced around the room, catching the eyes of the others before moving on.

Sasuke's now red Sharingan eyes were worried and confused with just a touch of envy.

Hinata's were sad, flickering as she struggled to find the courage to approach her love.

Gaara's usually empty green eyes were filled with the same longing and broken sorrow the golden fox's had held before lunging for the darker one. The Sand Child took a few steps forward and his hand rose before he realise what he was doing.

Itachi, standing just in the bedroom door, met his gaze and stared back unwaveringly. There was something fierce in those spinning red eyes; something that would stop at nothing to get what it wanted, totally dedicated to the task before it. Whisper supposed it was a particularly powerful will. Life, one could say. Itachi turned and padded out of his line of sight.

And last, Whisper turned his gaze to the shade watching from the corner. The twin pools of blue, exact replicas of those belonging to the boy in his arms, held regret and dull pain. The blond shade in red turned away.

Whisper's attention turned back to the blond in his arms when he started to hum in time with Whisper's, only in a deeper, vibrating voice that reminded him of Youko; Warm fur, fangs, deep purrs, growls and high sharp barks.

"Well. Well. Well. What have we here?"

There was a man standing in Naruto's doorway, who, according to the looks of horror on the other three's faces, was a bad guy.

If it looks like a snake, sounds like a snake and moves like a snake, you got to admit there's a pretty high chance of it being a snake.

Whisper raised his eyebrow, for now ignoring the blond purring into his chest and the brief sense of deja vu. "And…you are?" He put as much disinterested snobbery into his voice as he could be bothered to.

The snake-man twitched momentarily, before leering, an abnormally long tongue wagging in the air. "I am Orochimaru, the Snake Sannin and Otokage of Hidden Sound Village. I believe you have something that belongs to me." He turned his crazy snaky eyes to the bound Sasuke, who looked like he wanted to bolt.

Itachi appeared in the bedroom door again, but out of sight of everyone else. Whisper vaguely noticed that he had the exact expression on his face that Hiei had when Kuwabara flirted with Yukina. He also noted that Gaara had put Hinata in a corner before placing himself in front of her. The shade was glaring holes into the dark-haired man's head.

'Naruto' was still crooning 'The Three-Fold Lament', but Whisper had since noted that the boy was pulsing with a great deal of highly concentrated Kitsune energy. The only reason Whisper was aware of it was because the boy was pressed against him. He doubted that any of the others were aware of the fact that it was now the boy's demon currently in control of the body.

Whisper gently pushed the bound fox back and turned to face the Sannin head-on.

"Really now. And here I thought the Spore was reinstated as a Konoha Shinobi."

Orochimaru smirked but didn't answer. His eyes roved over Whisper's form. "So…You must be the one who beat Itachi Uchiha."

Whisper smiled ironically, though he was disgusted at the implications of the snake's gaze, activating what he had discovered was an advanced bloodline called _Tsuin Rasen Sori,_ the Twin Spiral Warp, just in case. "Not beat. Hemight have won if our fight hadn't been interrupted. He has a lot morepower, skill and control than I, butI have more battle experience, analytic abilityand strategic flexability. The only reason I could keep up with him is because of my bloodline ability. We were so evenly matched that it was like fighting myself."

The snake ignored Gaara and Hinata and moved away from them to try to circle around Whisper and 'Naruto' to get at Sasuke. Whisper wasn't worried; the snake would have to pass the bedroom door to get to the Spore. Whisper caught Gaara's eyes for a moment and jerked his head slightly. He was satisfied when the Kazekage grabbed Hinata and quietly dragged her out the door.

The Spiral eyes turned back to the snake in time to see him jerk back with a hiss as he barely avoided being stuck on the end of Itachi's Ninja-to.

Orochimaru looked uncertain for a moment before he covered it up. "What is this!" He hissed.

Whisper smiled. "I believe it's called a Big Brother Complex."

Itachi threw him a dirty look.

Only Whisper had noted that 'Naruto' was no longer behind him.

Noting the startled and enraged look in the gagged Uchiha's eyes, Whisper decided to define the Big Brother Complex. "This particular complex is particularly troublesome because it causes the big brother to become aggressively protective of the younger sibling, or siblings, to the point where they go to extreme lengths to keep them safe. There was a case in the Dune Country where a big brother brutally murdered his clan's council of elders because they were going to marry his twelve-year-old sister to a paedophile to cement diplomatic relations." Whisper smile thinly at Orochimaru, having noticed the flicker on unease that flashed through his eyes. "The only reason I can see for Itachi to have killed his clan was to protect Sasuke and lied about his reason for doing so, or…" Whisper's smile because almost predatory. "He could have lied about having done it in the first place."

Orochimaru faltered for a moment. In that moment, the demon in Naruto's body pounced onto the Otokage's back, clawed hands and feet digging into the man's torso and his fanged jaw clamping onto his neck. There was screaming as the Sannin fell with the demon riding his back, a squelch as a hand was pulled from ribs and moved down to gut the man. The screaming became panicked and gurgled as the man tried to throw the demon off, while the demon dug up under the ribcage looking for the heart.

There was a crunch and the screams stopped. Shoulders jerked as the hand flew back out of the chest, covered in gore and holding a piece of flesh.

Slit-pupiled red eyes looked up to regard the three others in the room, blood smeared around Naruto's mouth. For a moment, just a moment, the three saw the red fox's hanyou form.

The boy looked a small fourteen or so with feathery crimson hair falling straight down like a curtain to about ankle-length loose, but was caught up and braided about two feet from the head. The skin was a clean bronze stretched over a feminie, vulpine face similar to Whisper's own, dominated by huge almond-shaped eyes the same shade as his hair. The clothes the fox wore were drifty and black, splashed with red and gold, consisting of a loose black mid-riff tank-top, a pair of black short-shorts draped with nine scarves of black and crimson. Black knee-stockings bared the heels and clawed toes of his feet. Similar fingerless gloves went to the upper arm where they were tied with red ribbon. On each finger were golden claws attached to the gloves. Around his neck was a plated gold neck-protector/chocker. If it weren't for the eyes and slightly pointed ears, he could have passed for a rich, tribal human boy.

And then the image was gone.

'_He's powerful.' _Youko whispered in his host's mind.

Those big red eyes flickered between Whisper and Sasuke for a few moments before he realised that the boy was choking on his own vomit behind the gag. Whisper ripped the gag off and turned away so he didn't have to watch. If Sasuke had been forced to swallow, Whisper wouldn't have been able to stop himself from hurling.

The demon's head snapped around to stare at the door, head slightly lifted to scent the air. Whisper tilted his head as well. He blinked and turned to Itachi, sharply.

"Nin are coming. Go."

The dark haired manjerked an affirmative and he moved toward the bedroom where he paused to spare his brother a glance before disappearing.

A slight sucking sound said that the demon had stood. He looked back at the blond form. "You should go back to sleep." He told the demon softly. "If you stay in control too long, the body deteriorates and puts a strain on the host's mind."

The eyes looked at him for a long moment, judging him, before the jaw tilted slightlyin acquiescence. "As you wish. We will speak later." The demon spoke in a deep, smooth voice with a slight echo. The demon threw a glare at the still shade in the corner before he left and the body collapsed beside the Otokage's corpse.

There was a crash as the wall surrounding the door hit the floor. The dust settled to reveal Tsunade, Gaara, Hinata, various other nin and no less than twelve ANBU.

Whisper smiled. Sasuke was still taped to the chair (only now he was covered in puke too), the walls were still standing (except the front one), the furniture hadn't been trashed, (if you ignore the bloodstains) and everyone was still alive and relatively unharmed (unless you count the late Orochimaru).

"Where ya been? You missed the party!"

* * *

_**Quote: Murphy's law:** 'Never play leap frog with a Unicorn.' _True quote. ; ) 


	15. Chapter 14: Distractions

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything that is copyrighted. Don't sue cause I own nothing of value._

Sorry it's late. I've been camping and stuff while on holidays.

**_Reviewers:_**

_I FEEL LOVED! I would like to thank all of you for reviewing my story, but just so you know, I'm a Uni student so i may not get stories up as oftren as we may like. Anyway, thanks!_

* * *

Whisper was in the busty blonde's office again.

'_This is getting monotonous,' _He complained loudly to Suichi, who was the only one at the surface.

The redhead laughed lightly. '_Well, you do get into trouble a lot.'_

'_Well, yeah. But I can usually talk my way out of it. How the hell am I supposed to talk my way out of something involving a corpse, a witness and a bound demon I called to the surface?'_ Whisper mentally pouted when Suichi laughed at him again.

'_There's only one thing you can do at a time like this. And I would know; almost the same thing has happened to me often enough.'_

'_What?'_

'_Smile, bare it and try to either change the subject or shift the blame onto someone else.'_

'…_Gee, thanks.'_

"Whisper-san! Answer the question!" The black-haired youth jumped slightly.

"Huh?"

The blonde on the other side of the desk developed a noticeable tick in her left eyebrow. Tsunade gritted her teeth and repeated herself.

"What happened in there? Start to finish if you please."

"Hmmm…? Okay." Whisper tapped his chin with an index finger as he pondered where to begin. "Well…it started yesterday after I left this room here." Whisper gestured to the room in general. "I wandered 'round for about an hour before I wandered into a randomly place Training Ground where I met Hinata and I asked if she would like to learn how to use the whip, since from what I saw before I interrupted her, she has the perfect build and balance to be able to become a master at it. Anyway, I was with her for, what, five-six hours before we went and got a meal at this Ramen Stand, Ichukiru or something. Then I asked her if she would help me with some clothes shopping for Naruto since his fashion sense sucks (honestly, whoever got him into orange should be hung up by their heels and skinned). That was a mistake since she took me on a four hour shopping spree-" The male ANBU in the room made momentary sympathetic noises-"and then I walked her back to the Hyuuga compound after getting Naruto's address from her (no idea how she got it) and promising her another training session in the morning. On the way to Naruto's apartment, I was waylaid by one of the guys who put me into the hospital and he asked some inane questions before taking off again-"

"WAIT!" Whisper paused and gave the Godaime big surprised eyes.

"Yes?"

"What do you mean 'he asked me some inane questions before taking off again'?"

"Exactly what it sounds like."

Tsunade's face was growing steadily redder and Whisper could practically see steam rising from her head.

'_Are you sure it's okay to provoke her like this?'_ Suichi asked, honestly beginning to question Whisper's sanity. Again.

'_Don't you mean 'safe'? Nope.'_ Whisper chirped with a Kitten Smile™ (Guaranteed to get coos of adoration from any Fangirl worth her salt). '_But you gotta admit it's amusing as hell.'_

The Hokage tried steadying her temper with a few deep breaths. "Did you get the name of the nin?"

Whisper allowed his Kitten Smile™ to manifest visibly. "Of course! Naruto told me!"

Pause.

Longer uncomfortable pause in which Whisper continues to Smile™.

Tsunade twitched violently. All ANBU took a big step back.

"What was the bloody name, already!"

Whisper blinked innocently, naively.

Yeah. Me and the Tooth Fairy.

"What name?"

(**Space)**

Naruto jerked awake in his hospital bed when a frustrated scream tore through the Hidden Village of Leaf. All over town, dogs and Inuzukas started barking and howling.

**(Space)**

"Oh! That name!" The fox smiled benignly at the Hokage at the bottom of the ANBU dogpile…the only thing stopping her from completing the lunge which would take his head off.

"Itachi."

Whisper was instantly the centre of attention and not a few kunai.

'_Why are you doing this?'_ Suichi sounded like he wanted to cry.

'_Keep them from asking what Itachi wanted to know.'_ Whisper was vaguely amused at Suichi's relief that he had a plausible reason for his newly re-found insanity.

"You just let a missing nin of his rank walk off without alerting ANBU the hunt him down! Are you trying to get done for treason!"

Whisper held as finger up and wagged it under the enraged woman's nose. "Uh-uh-ah! You can only get done for treason if you betray your own Village. Last I checked, I was a suspended non-shinobi citizen of Hidden Bamboo. Furthermore, I like my head and screaming 'MISSING-NIN HERE!' is a good way to lose it. Besides, he wasn't wearing anything affiliated with Akatsuki and he wasn't doing anything to me but sating his curiosity with idle banter." How a group of people wearing masks could look outraged was beyond him, but they still managed to pull it off.

Whisper shrugged. "Besides, I figured you knew he was there since two of the ANBU watching me last night were situated on the roof opposite Naruto's apartment. I mean, it's kind of hard for a trained shinobi not to notice someone seated on a windowsill not a meter directly below them."

Heads turned to stare at a pair of ANBU who had the grace to look sheepish.

"Anyway, Itachi aside, I arrived at Naruto's house, my gear mysteriously turned up, I went to sleep, had a nightmare, spent a couple of hours on the windowsill, had a staring contest with said missing-nin, went back to bed when Naruto had a nightmare and went to sleep. Woke up the next morning at the crack of dawn by someone pounding on the door, dragged them inside and duct-taped them to a chair before going back to bed. Woke up an hour or so later and finished my fried tofu from yesterday, opened the door for Hinata-chan, set about Operation: Orange Burn, answered the door to let Gaara in (and I honestly have very little idea as to why he turned up anyway), set Naruto's wardrobe on fire, watched Naruto wake up, enter the kitchen, come back out, panic, try to put out the fire, put out the fire, comfort Naruto, wonder what Itachi's doing in the bedroom doorway and start humming a lullaby to Naruto. Snake-guy comes through the door and the shit hits the fan."

Whisper had the feeling several jaws were working under the white porcelain masks, not to mention a couple of couples of eyebrows getting hitched up under some hairlines.

Whisper grinned, well pleased with himself. "Trivialities out of the way, let's get onto the good stuff."

Tsunade nodded distractedly.

Whisper grinned cheerfully. "The Snake-Guy, who shall from now on be referred to as simply 'Snake', came in and said something about something belonging to him. I motioned for Gaara to take Hina-chan and go get back-up, which he did. Gaara and Hina-chan disappeared out the door and Snake made a break for Uchiha Sasuke, who happened to be the person I taped to the chair, only to be deterred by Itachi, who was still in the bedroom for some reason." Whisper continued grinning like a loon, all the while under the impression that everyone but himself had lost him ages ago and were blinking stupidly behind their masks. "I then proceeded to explain to the Snake why Itachi would bother saving such an ugly little brat. Naruto moved around Snake while he was distracted with Itachi and myself and, ahh, well…" Whisper rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Tsunade's amber eyes narrowed dangerously. "'And, well…' what?"

Whisper mumbled something under his breath.

Tsunade growled. "What was that? I can't hear you."

Whisper gave a very fake smile. "Why don't you wait for the forensics report? It'll probably be less gory." The woman looked like she was about to speak again, so the fox quickly continued. "Anyway, I think the Kyuubi no Yoko was in control at the time because I kind of got the impression of someone else and he sounded totally different when he spoke to me."

Tsunade stood and slammed her hands on the table. "What do you mean, when he spoke to you?"

Whisper shrugged, inwardly relieved they weren't going skitz about the Great Fox's appearance. "He said he wanted to talk to me again later because his presence was causing strain on Naruto's body."

Tsunade had calmed down considerably and now appeared to be contemplating what Whisper had said. "Why would he want to talk to you?"

Whisper gave a slow, mysterious smile. "The same reason Itachi does."

Tsunade narrowed his eyes. "And why is that?"

Whisper gave a blank, pleasant face. "That is personal and doesn't really affect the case in point. Only twelve people in living memory know about that and all but three are dead or close to it, which only leaves myself, Kyuubi and Itachi; though I'm pretty sure Kyuubi-sama only suspects." Whisper smiled and stood. "Now, if you would excuse me, I have an appointment with Hinata which has been put off too long."

The fox took off before anyone could consider stopping him.

Tsunade waved the ANBU back. "Let him go, but keep an eye on him. I believe he knows more than he lets on."

(**Space)**

In the depths of Irony's Closet™, Hope cackled evilly as the bindings on his wrists fall away. "First toilet; then…revenge!"

**(Space)**

In Konoha, Inari and Irony were stationed on a building overlooking the men's public baths with two pairs of binoculars when an uncontrollable shudder ran down their backs.

"Think someone's plotting against us?" Inari asked her compadrie.

"Uh-ha."

* * *

**Quote:** The Evil Overlord List No. 5: '_The artifact which is the source of my power will not be kept on the Mountain of Despair beyond the River of Fire guarded by the Dragons of Eternity. It will be in my safe-deposit box. The same applies to the object which is my one weakness.'_

Be sure to look this one up. I found it effing hilarious. ;-)


	16. Chapter 15: Decorum

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Yu Yu Hakusho or Harry Potter._**

**_To Da Reviewers:_**

Sorry it's taken so long to update, I've been writing other stories. Feel free to read them. Seriously, read them. 'Breaking Point' has had only 10 reviews and it's on the four chapter. -sob-

And the thing with talking about his village, it was because he was new to the world and the Powers That Be hadn't given him much of a background story at that point, hence he couldn't 'remember' and thus had to wing it.

**(space)**

Doubtful it stood, as the two combatants regarded one another across the battlefield, hot wind blasting up dust, hair and cloak snapping dramatically in the stiff breeze. They were evenly match, these two; both highly intelligent, both skilled and both well versed in this particular form of combat.

A pale-eyed maiden sat on the sidelines, chewing her lower lip in anxiety and flanked by a pair of grim Shinobi. Then, suddenly, the wind changed direction as Whisper smirked at his opponent.

"You fought valiantly, my friend, but now you shall fall."

The blue fox moved the Go piece from within the ranks of his seemingly random game set out, ending the board game being carried out in the shade of a yakinaku stand.

Nara Shikamaru regarded the board for a moment before conceding defeat with a simple "How troublesome."

"WHAT!" Came the loud and disbelieving demand from the masses of ninja who had bet against the newcomer. Hinata and the two ninja who had bet on him, a pair of ANBU who had been assigned to him since his appearance in Konoha, merrily collected their massive winnings.

Whisper was just completing his little happy dance when there was a terrifying yell which stilled the crowd in stark horror. Whisper supposed it was a situation similar to a train wreck; you can't look away.

"YOSH! The Power Of Youth is strong with this one!" Cried the larger green and orange monstrosity.

"YES, GAI-SENSEI! His Power in the Springtime of Youth is indeed worth of our praise!" Cried the smaller green and orange monstrosity.

It was like looking at a picture of a mauled animal for the first time; at first you can't make anything of the red, purple and pink pieces, but then you see something you recognise, like a paw, and then everything falls into place and you see the picture for what it is. Currently, Whisper had his head tilted in morbid fascination even while his lip curled in a silent 'eww'.

Things couldn't get any worse.

(**space)**

A pair of Trickster Goddesses snickered from their place in the crowd.

**(space)**

A sunset appeared from nowhere, scaring the bejeebies out of the fox.

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

Whisper twitched when the two…Suichi tentatively put forward 'people', hugged manly hugs, tears in their eyes, and shuddered at the horror of it all.

In the mind scape, Youko and Suichi watched in train-wreck horror; vaguely reminded of one Kawabara Kazuma for some reason.

In the real world, Whisper finally snapped out of his trance and screamed the first thing that came to mind.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? HAVE THE MALES IN THIS TOWN NO SENSE OF DECORUM!"

Upon realising what he had said, the fox promptly bolted to escape retribution from the male ninja in the crowd. Hinata mysteriously ending up tossed over his shoulder and carried off.

Shikamaru sighed as he regarded the game board. "How troublesome."

However, Whisper was the only person in a long time to have defeated him in either Go or Shoji, and thus warranted a smidgen of interest.

**(space)**

Somehow, and he honestly had no idea how they got there, Whisper and Hinata ended up in an ill-used dojo in the Hyuuga Branch House compound.

Having nothing better to do and wanting to lay low for a while, Whisper decided whip training was in order and so presented his pupil with a package he pulled out of…somewhere...

He turned around to give the girl her privacy as she changed, telling her the reason for the gift. "It's easier for whip-wielders to wear shin-tight or fitted clothing to avoid snagging in the middle of a move and botching the whip's course. Besides, these one's will distract an opponent, add to the intimidation factor and boost your self-esteem."

Hinata made an anxious sound. "Are you sure you got the right package?" came the plaintive query.

Whisper turned around to survey his student. He looked her up and down. "Yup." was his simple answer.

The outfit Whisper had chosen Hinata the day before when she wasn't looking was a little skimpy, but it suited her. The outfit was made entirely out of water-proofed reddish-brown leather and was, as he had mentioned earlier, skin-tight. The pants were hipsters that slipped into flat but stylish ankle-boots and the top consisted of a one armed crop-top with the one arm flaring into a long sleave down her right. The Left arm had a vambrace of hardened leather over a kid-leather glove. There was choker of the same leather around her neck. A matching whip hung from her vambraced hand.

Noticing something missing, Whisper circled the girl before deciding it was the hair.

Ten minutes later, those long bangs of hers were bound in tribal fashion with two thing strips of leather, her lips were painted bronze and her eyes looked heavy-lidded from the bronze eye-shadow and thick mascara.

Normally Hinata was pretty, now she was out and out hot.

"Now," Whisper started suddenly after his contemplative silence, "All we need to work on is a mask."

Hinata blinked. "A mask?"

"Yup." Whisper smiled and activated the _Tsuin Rasen Sori_. He'd 'remembered' that it was good at hypnotizing people.

**(space)**

It was very late when Hinata returned to the Main House. The Branch House attendants first figured that she had changed something besides her clothes when she picked up her younger sister, Hanabi, and bodily threw her out a window for sneering at her.

Hiashi heard about it not three minutes later and went to verbally abuse his eldest.

Ten quiet minutes later, the Clan Head left Hinata's room with a limp and a bloody nose.

**(space)**

Whisper walked into Naruto's apartment humming and finishing his dango.

He paused long enough to give the shade still in residence in the corner a 'You're-Still-Here?' Look. "What're you moping about?"

Not waiting for a reply, Whisper flounced into the bedroom. Naruto wasn't back yet. He shrugged.

"Oh, well."

**(space)**

Hope slunk through the backstreets of Konohagakure, fully intent of the destruction of a certain pair of deities, Chaos and Malice padding along behind the black sheep of the family, so to speak.

But he was their brother and they would assist him in committing acts of grievous bodily harm.

…Even if they believed his cheese had slid off the cracker.

**(space)**

**Quote: **From the Evil Overlord List- Number 85. I will not use any plan in which the final step is horribly complicated, e.g. "Align the 12 Stones of Power on the sacred altar then activate the medallion at the moment of total eclipse." Instead it will be more along the lines of "Push the button."

**_Pleez review._**


	17. Chapter 16: Dreams

**_Disclaimer:_I dun own Naruto, Yu Yu Hakusho or Harry Potter.**

**Note:**Due to popular consensis, it will be yaoi from here on out.

(**space)**

"Alright, Youko, Suichi. How do I do this?"

The fog parted and Whisper-As-A-Fox-Child, Suichi and Youko Kurama stood in a small clearing filled with glowing multi-coloured foxlights and various luminescent transparent flowers that grew exclusively in the Farplane of the Reikai. The 'Three-Fold Lament' played on a piano sung in the air and you could just make out the roar of waterfalls in the background.

Youko raised an immaculately white eyebrow. "How do you do what?"

Whisper rolled his eyes. "And to think, you live in my mind."

Suichi laughed at the face Youko pulled at the boy.

"I want to know how to Dreamwalk." Whisper clarified, trying not to smile.

Suichi shrugged, a smile still hovering over his lips. "Don't look at me. I never learnt since I had no need for it."

"It's not that hard. This way." Whisper and Suichi shared a look before following Youko to the edge of the mind and down to the subconscious.

Whisper's mind was oddly laid out. The normal mind was usually an orb of some kind and the deeper you went into the orb, the deeper into the mind and subconscious you went.

Now Whisper's mind was very different. Organized. Subtle. Difficult. Since Whisper had an active imagination to begin with, it wasn't all that hard to organise his mind into a distinct way that only he and his tenants knew how to navigate it. Each flower was a memory, an experience or a random piece of information while the foxlights were skills he learnt, ready to be used at any moment. Everything else was a distracter; the fog, the music, the waterfalls; distracters.

This, however, was only the conscious mind. The conscious half was on a floating island and, to reach the subconscious, one had to go to the west end and walk down the stairs of transparent glowing energy quite some way. On the way down, one could see five separate but interconnected Ki Cores. Both Suichi's and Youko's Cores were large and green, shot through with gold: The other three, Suichi had explained, were Whisper's own Cores. The one used most often, and therefore the largest, was a marble of water blue and gold-shot green; this was his youki. The next was a rather plain and un-notable white of slightly above average size; this was his reiki, the white signifying his foresight abilities which he never learnt to use (Suichi made a mental note on the way past to send Whisper to Genkai when (if) they got home). The last Core was mostly separate from the others, only connected by a thread. This Core, the 'Magic' Core, was bigger than the reiki one, but only marginally so because it was never used and mostly ignored. It was like a black opal in colouration.

High overhead was a cube connected to Whisper's Cores by ugly reddish strands but created and maintained by Suichi and Youko's Cores. This was where the connection with the evil wizard was.

Finally, the three foxes reached the subconscious. The subconscious was so far away from the consciousness because, Youko said, they would be able to come up with a way to get any intruders out before they used it. All secrets were sent immediately to the subconscious for safekeeping.

The subconscious itself was a flooded rainforest. Three to seven feet of crystal clear water gave glimpses of the pretty but unrealistic white sand, river pebbles and cute little fishies in the water. Trees of all kinds stood in the water, their roots plain to see, as their leaves formed a dense canopy above, letting only singular shafts of light pierce the water. Makain bellbirds sang in the background. Allowing access to the forest were interconnected walkway bridges suspended above the water by poles and ropes tied to the thick trees. Foxlights again flitted through the trees, only these foxlights were secrets and would flee from everyone but Whisper and his tenants.

Youko led them deep into the forest until they reached a massive old weeping willow. In the willow was a hollow large enough to fit a fox through.

"There you go," Youko gestured to the hollow. "Go through there and you will leave the body. Since it only works in fox-form, you'll have to wait until you reach the person's dreams before assuming whatever form you want. Just look for the person you want, and if they're sleeping, jump into their chest to enter their dreams, just be out before they wake up or you're trapped there until they go back to sleep."

Whisper gave him a look. "And how am I supposed to get out, exactly?"

The silver fox shrugged. "Just will yourself out."

The black fox gave him a look before willing himself into his fox form.

The eight-tailed blue-tipped black fox shook itself and bound into the hollow, disappearing.

Suichi looked at Youko. Youko looked back.

Suichi shifted. "You up for a game of Shogi?"

**(space)**

The black fox landed outside the body and shook itself again, not really used to this form. It bounced around the room a bit to get used to the form and trotted into the main room.

Whisper paused on his way to the kitchen window, blatantly ignoring the curious blue gaze of the blonde in the corner. Hadn't the hallway wall been knocked down by the Hokage in her hurry to save Naruto?

Pondering this a moment, the fox resolved to ask tomorrow and moved on.

Ten minutes later saw the furry little creature trotting into a room in the hospital which housed the snoring blond demon vessel.

Whisper jumped up onto the bed and placed his forepaw onto the visible Seal on the boy's stomach.

The black-and-blue fox was sucked into the abdomen of the jailor.

**(space)**

Upon entry, Whisper changed into his adult kitsune form; tail, pointy ears and all. His outfit in this form was similar to Youko's except it was a very a dark blue, almost black.

Assuming that Naruto was a cute, innocent, naïve boy was a serious mistake on Whisper's part. A Point Of View which was automatically changed to 'Closet Nympho' upon arrival into the boy's Dreamscape.

Whisper left Naruto to his Sasuke Fantasy and made for the subconscious via the heavy dungeon door hovering a foot over the ground. If the fox had been in his physical form, he would have gotten a nosebleed from that position the blonde had his friend in.

There was a strangled sound from behind him.

**(space)**

Whisper was quietly snickering to himself as he dragged the insensible blonde shade through the door.

His ears pricked forward and his nose wrinkled in distaste at the sewer. The fox enforced his will on the subconscious and anchored the image over the sewer one. Green-and-gold eyes opened and hummed in pleasure.

The fox started forward into the candle-lit cave, still dragging the shade to give Naru-chan some privacy.

After poking through several doors, the shade came out of his comatosed state (which in itself was impressive since he was, well, dead).

"What are you doing here!"

Whisper carefully closed the door to the room he had looked into(A Childhood Memory Room…Ano…It wasn't pretty.) and turned to answer the angry shade's pissy-hissed question.

The fox answered in his usual flippant fashion. "Looking for Kyuubi-sama. I have an appointment to get to, so if you would excuse me?" The kitsune sauntered past the momentarily speechless shade and went back to the main shaft.

There was some spluttering going on behind him (which was ignored in favour of another door). "Wait a kami-damned minute! Who the hell to you think you are!"

Whisper wiggled his nose at the 'Fantasy' section and closed the door gingerly. "Whisper, Youko Kurama, Minamino Suichi, Potsuteru Hatori Sora, Haruri, Hari, cousin darling dear, Son of Potsuteru Riri and Jamesu, Pain-In-The-Butt, King of Thieves, Plant Master, The Seller and Procurer Of Lost Information and Artifacts, Tsunade's Bane, Aniki, Chain-Yanker, He-of-the-Cute-and-Furry-Ears-and-Tail, etc. The list goes on. And…are you?"

"Kazama Arashi, the Fourth Hokage."

Whisper paused as he opened another door (People Naruto Hates: Numbering 571.) and tapped his chin thoughtfully, muttering to himself. "Yondaime…Yondaime… Yondaime the Blondaime who believed in the goodness of humanity and was unable to move on to eternal rest because his final wish was not carried out by the people who professed to love him." Whisper closed the door and moved off down the shaft where he opened another one, still speaking. "Humans are almost unique in Ningenkai in that they are one of the few species to learn from other's mistakes. They are also wholly unique in their blanant refusal to do so. Such is the folly of humanity. It's a wonder they aren't extinct yet."

It wasn't that Whisper was unaware of the hurt anger radiating from Arashi, it's just that he knew he would be lashed out at the moment he acknowledged it.

Whisper turned an abrupt corner and exclaimed happily. "And here it is!"

Arashi came around the corner and sweatdropped at the big, ominous blacked metal double doors illuminated by a pair of blue-flame torches. "Cheerful, innit?"

Whisper laughed and trotted forward.

(**space)**

Kyuubi was nervous.

He couldn't remember ever having met one of his own kind in all of his long, long life. Even he admitted that he had probably not fought against the snake-man's genjustu as well as he could have, but he was tired and lonely and he wanted to die.

And then, after he had been Sealed into the human kit and was almost at peace with himself, BAM! Out of the blue he hears a song from the deepest recesses of his mind and hadn't seen the light for many thousands of years. He had risen to the surface of the kit's mind and there was a scent almost, but not quite, like his own. The owner of the scent was holding the kit in an almost parental manner…

Then it was gone and he was back in the cage, the song floating back into memory. Kyuubi almost cried.

And then the song was back again and the Seal was weaker! He rushed to the surface and the scent filled his nostrils, bringing with it forest scents he had almost forgotten in his prison.

He clung to the person and long dark hair brushed his face as he felt the other look around, still humming. Kyuubi started humming too.

There was someone speaking and the other stopped humming. The arms around him tightened and loosened. Kyuubi was pushed back and the other said something…and Kyuubi saw the other…

For a moment, just a moment, he was crushed because he thought the other was human and his mind was playing tricks…and then he saw the spirit outline overlaying the human form. It was most defiantly not human.

The other had large, tilted and heavy-lidded two-toned gold-and-green eyes that dominated the pale triangle of his face. A very kissable pale pink mouth was tilted into a nothing smile. Two blue-tipped black ears were pricked forward while a blue-tipped black foxtail swished down a perfect backside like a cat's just before pouncing. He was very tall and slender, though well-built.

Kyuubi couldn't remember ever seeing anything more beautiful.

Disgust flickered over the beautiful and the red eyes caught the leer of the snake-man directed at the other. HIS other.

You know that possessive kitsune thing I mentioned earlier? Yeah. That. It's a genetic trait apparent in any and all kitsune.

He was moving before he knew it, circling his prey while the other distracted it. Once behind, he waited for the opportune moment when the prey hesitated. He jumped and rode the snake-man to the ground.

The human stopped moving so Kyuubi looked up at the other. There was an almost smile on his face. There was a slight movement to the right and Kyuubi glanced between the other and a human boy he vaguely recognized from watching through the kit's eyes.

The other looked at the human and pulled a face. The gag was ripped from the human's face and the human regurgitated his breakfast onto himself.

A rapidly approaching aura caught his attention.

"Nin are coming. Go."

Kyuubi turned back at the smooth voice. He almost frowned when he realized the other was talking to another human he hadn't noticed before.

Kyuubi stood, calling the other's attention back to him.

"You should go back to sleep." He told the Kyuubi softly. "If you stay in control too long, the body deteriorates and puts a strain on the host's mind."

Kyuubi was slightly irritated but realized the truth in what he said. He nodded. "As you wish. We will speak later." They _would_ talk next time he was called out.

Which left him back in the kit's mind and in the cell.

Imagine his surprise when the dungeon door opened and the other pooped his head in.

**(space)**

**_Quote: _**The Good Guy

**_If I Am Ever the Hero..._**

3. When the Evil Overlord takes hostages, I will presume the hostages dead and hold a memorial service. Any promises made by the Evil Overlord regarding their safe return shall be summarily ignored. My loved ones will be warned to expect this.

Pleez Review


	18. Chapter 17: Realisation

**_Disclaimer:_** I own not Yu Yu Hakusho nor Harry Potter nor Naruto.

For future reference, keep in mind that mentally, no matter how smart he is, Whisper is still eleven. So he will have people chasing him but no actual relationships at this point.

Thanks!

* * *

Whisper opened one of the double doors and poked his head around, ears pricked forward and nose twitching.

This room had obviously been skipped by his mental adjustments. It was big. It was dark. And it stank. The walls were slick with dark greening slime and Whisper didn't even want to contemplate what would have been in the ankle-deep water had it been 'real'. Taking up most of the room was a barred off section with a piece of paper reading 'Seal' stuck to the bars.

There was a massive blood-coloured fox looking at him from behind the bars.

Whisper raised a hand in a half-wave. "Yo."

The red fox's ears flickered uncertainly and he whined. Whisper found this very odd behaviour for someone who outranked him by a tail. He tilted his head inquiringly.

"Ano…Is something wrong?"

Kyuubi shifted and looked away. "I have…never met another like me before."

"Waaaahhh?!" Whisper face faulted. "You're kidding! At least a thousand years of life and you've never met another kitsune?!"

The house-sized head nodded. "That is correct."

"The hell is Inari-sama thinking?!"

* * *

Hiding behind a ramen stand and waiting for Malice to move on after his twin and deranged little brother, Irony only just managed to help stifle Inari's sneezing fit.

* * *

A red ear twitched curiously. "Inari-sama?"

Whisper face faulted again. "You don't know of…Inari-sama?"

Kyuubi shook his head.

A big bead of sweat could be seen sliding down the back of the blue fox's head. "What _do_ you know about Kitsune culture?"

"Nothing."

Whisper sighed.

* * *

It was several hour later when Whisper was finally able to leave the Kyuubi to his musings.

He had spent much of his time explaining kitsune laws, traditions and beliefs, as well as subspecies, to the Kyuubi, who happened to be a fire-orientated mountain ruby. There was something like twenty-two different subspecies of kistune.

"How'd it go?"

Whisper waved his hand at Arashi (who wisely hadn't entered the chamber). "Okay. He expects me back again either tomorrow night or the night after." He continued down the hall. "C'mon. If we're not out by the time Naruto wakes up, we'll be stuck here until he goes back to sleep."

* * *

The eight-tailed blue and black fox wandered back into Naruto's apartment just as dawn was touching the horizon.

He paused in the bedroom doorway, foot still lifted and ears pricked.

Itachi was sitting on the edge of the bed, hand idly stroking the long dark blue-black hair as it lay fanned out around the pale, so-graceful figure, a look of wistful longing on his face.

Whisper knew, factually, that he was beautiful. It was a genetic trait inherent in all kitsune. But as he looked at the sleeping form in a pool of fading moonlight, he came to understand something of why humans were so enamoured by the otherworld-ness of kitsunes.

The fox shook his head and leapt back into his body, knowing Itachi wouldn't be able to see him in this form.

Whisper felt the strain of using so much energy to remain in incorporeal form upon entering his body and fell into a deep sleep.

The last sensation he was aware of was snuggling into the hand that brushed his cheek.

* * *

"You know," Inari confided to Irony as they hid in a tree, "I don't think it was a good idea to mess with Hope."

Irony nodded reluctantly. "Malice and Chaos can be reasoned with, but Hope's just nuts."

* * *

"You know," Malice confided to Chaos as they stood well back. "Maybe it wasn't a good idea to agree to help Hope with this."

Chaos nodded reluctantly. "Irony and Inari are okay on their own, but together they're just nuts."

"But they only ruin lives. Hope burns stuff."

Chaos sighed in defeat. Why argue the inarguable?

* * *

Hope cackled and danced around a bonfire depicting the fiery deaths of the Irony and Inari dummies, tied as they were to stakes.

* * *

**Quote: Evil Overlord List" No. 78: **I will not tell my Legions of Terror "And he must be taken alive!" The command will be "And try to take him alive if it is reasonably practical."


	19. Chapter 18: Staring

**_Disclaimer:_** I own not Yu Yu Hakusho nor Harry Potter nor Naruto.

OO' Ommigod, it's been, like FOUR MONTHS since I updated. Sorry. Writer's block or, rather, my Evil Furry Critter Army Of DOOM staged a coup and stuffed me into a closet for a few months. Either way, sorry for the delay

If you want to find the **Evil Overlord List**, search for it in Google and try **Stupid Plot Tricks.** I've found that page has more than just the evil overlord quotes.

The tails? As said in one of my previous chapters when asked, it's a glitch. Ignore it.

And thank you, **Moonlight black rose** for that...enthusiastic review.

* * *

Have you ever been deeply asleep, only to wake suddenly because you had the feeling you were being watched?

This was the feeling Whisper woke to.

He had since drifted into a REM sleep and was quite happily dreaming of hunting in a dark forest wreathed in mist by the light of a full moon. Still thinking like a fox, Whisper stretched and yawned, joints popping, and rolled over the see what had awakened him.

Gaara of the Desert was standing next to the bed, face about just as blank as Yomi's.

Speaking of Yomi, Whisper was hoping to never meet this particular youkai: Ever. Youko and Suichi's memories of the multi-eared demon made him edgy. They called him dense; he called them blind. It was obvious the freak had a thing for Youko. Almost to the point of Karasu Level Obsession…Who happened to be another youkai he hoped never suddenly came back to life/reappeared and turned out to have never died in the first place.

…Weirdos.

"You're awake."

Whisper blinked, a sleepy smile on his face, and stretched again. "Yes, I am."

"What are you?"

"What are _you_?"

"I asked first."

"I am I."

"That's not an answer."

"Yes it is. Just not the answer you were looking for."

He stretched again, warm and sleepy in his patch of sunlight. Gaara went pink and averted his eyes.

"Would you stop that?"

Whisper paused mid-stretch. "Huh?"

It was then that Whisper noticed something that had totally slipped his mind since the night before. His own cheeks tinted.

As he re-adjusted the sheets to cover his bare lap, he fervently prayed that Itachi hadn't seen anything private.

'_Oh, c'mon. You know that's not true.'_ Youko told him and paused before adding, smirking. '_He probably lifted the sheets to peek.'_

'_Shaddup!' _"So… Gaara-san…What brings you here at-" He glanced at the alarm clock and frowned. "-3:34 in the afternoon?"

The redhead continued to look out the window. "I've been here since 10:02."

He blinked. "_Why_?"

Gaara shrugged, seemingly unaware that watching someone sleep for hours on end was generally viewed as creepy.

Not mentioning any names, _Itachi._

Whisper sat up and gathered the sheet around his waist. Gaara moved back so as the seemingly older boy could get off the bed and hopefully get dressed, which he indeed appeared to be doing since he made a move towards his pack in the corner.

"Hinata-san came by earlier, as did several parties concerned about her behaviour." The boy commented, seemingly from nowhere, now facing away from the dressing other.

Whisper looked up whilst in the middle of pulling on some cargo pants. "What about her behaviour?"

"She has become prone to violent outbursts."

Whisper paused. If he didn't know better, he'd have sworn there was an angry, protective note in that monotone voice. He pulled the clingy black tank top down and peered at the Kazekage.

He grinned abruptly when Gaara turned around and he caught sight of the look on his face. "You like her." He accused in a sing-song voice.

He was awarded by a blank look and, after a moment, a slow, barely noticeable blush spread over his cheeks and turned his ears red.

Someone abruptly hammered on the door before the red-head could refute it and screamed through the door, "GAARA! GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW AND LISTEN TO YOUR SISTER!"

Gaara barely saw the devilish smirk before Whisper was out of the room towards the front door in a flash of blue-black hair.

Temari squeaked and jumped back when the door slammed open to reveal the devilishly handsome wandering nin she had been eyeing off for the last few days.

He was grinning like a lunatic and promptly sang out loudly "Gaara has a cru-ush!"

Before Temari and the just as surprised Kankuro could make sense of the words coming from the nin's mouth, a red, black and tan blur crashed tackled him out of sight, an abrupt wave of sand slamming the door shut in their faces.

There were a few crashes, loud laughter, feral growls and finally a cry of "ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!", before all went silent.

The door was opened again by the same gorgeous nin, sans half his shirt and hair like a haystack, a bit of blood seeping out the corner of his mouth where someone appeared to have given him a glancing blow to the jaw. Gaara could be seen glaring at him in the background looking just as tussled as the darker-haired youth, though not apparently bleeding.

Whisper smiled charmingly at Gaara's stunned siblings and moved aside with a sweeping gesture. "Please disregard my former comment and do come in. We were just about to have something to eat."

(**space)**

The four nin sat around the table, drinking tea, on two chairs, an overturned bin and what Whisper was quite sure was an old suitcase.

Whisper was smiling in a fashion reminiscent if Suichi's '_I'm-Just-Doing-This-Because-You-Won't-Leave-Me-Alone-Otherwise' _Smile™ , Youko's '_I'm-Smiling-Because-I-Know-It's-Getting-To-You'_ Grin_™_ and, oddly enough, one Hatake Kakashi's '_I-Wonder-What's-Got-Them-So-Irritated…'_ Upside-Down-Eye-Tilty-Smile-Thing_™. _Gaara's expression was best described as half '_Gaara's-Death-Glare-Of-DOOM'™_ and half _'Oh-My-Kami! I'm-Surrounded-By-Crazies-And-Can't-Get-Away'™_. Temari and Kankuro were doing their damnedest to be invisible.

"So," The two older Sand-nin jumped out of their skins when Whisper's entirely too cheerful voice pounced on the tense silence in the room. The Silence thrashed the Noise off, scrambled to its feet and bolted like a cat with its tail on fire, too scared to look back. "I assume there's a reason for you watching me sleep for hours on end." It was a statement, not a question.

He sipped his tea again.

Gaara blinked slowly and spoke in a smooth, slow tone. "Are you a Jinchuuriki like myself and Naruto?"

"Nope. I'm somewhere between a hanyou throwback and a type four possession." Whisper sipped his tea again before continuing. "Nearly total opposites of the spectrum, actually. Just about the only thing our situations have in common is that we each have a demonic soul inside us, though, granted, even those circumstances are in different categories."

Gaara set his teacup onto the scarred tabletop gently. "How so?"

Whisper shrugged, pulled his hair back and began to plait it into a long braid. "From what I understand, your inner demon and Naruto's Kyuubi no Kitsune were Sealed forcibly into you both as newborns, whereas I was born with ancestral and thin demon blood that, for some reason, decided to manifest itself in me. When I was somewhere between one and two, my parents were murdered and I was given this by their murderer." He tapped the pale scar upon his forehead. "It was designed to directly link my mind to the mind of the man who gave me it so he could destroy my mind from the inside out."

(**space)**

It the Hokage Tower, Tsunade, a perverted old man who has yet to be introduced, Shizune, Tonton the pig, and a variety of ANBU who were there to observe the youth were staring into a crystal ball, totally shocked.

Tsunade, however, was subconsciously itching to examine that scar.

**(space)**

"Fortunately for me, unfortunately for Suichi, the demon's previous host was torture and killed about a week before I would have become a human vegetable and, since my demon blood was of the same species as the demon, so I was a compatible host for it even though I had already been born." Seeing Gaara's frown, Whisper clarified. "Usually, the only way for a demon to be able to use a human form as its own is if they take possession of a human child before it is born, usually towards the end of the second trimester. But since we were compatible, he, and the attached soul of his previous host, were able to mesh with mine. As a form of rent, they both lend me their power, knowledge and help in keeping this," He traced the scar, "Contained."

Gaara nodded his understanding and the two fell into silence, though Gaara remained frowning into his tea in thought.

He finally looked back up. "Shukaku is demanding to know what biju would willingly trap itself into a human body."

Whisper smiled at Youko's huffy sound. "He isn't a biju. Youko Kurama is a kitsune thief born and bred in Makai, the Demon Realm."

(**space)**

"**_WHAAAT?!?!"_**

Five deities on the other side of Konoha looked around when they heard the synchronized screaming coming from two different location, wondering if the other team were the ones responsible.

* * *

**Quote:**_ Never agrue with a fool. They'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience._


End file.
